Into the Deep
by joanorbis
Summary: AU. Sequel to To Dream but not to Sleep. Set in a dark, violent world.
1. Chapter 1

The sleek black motorcycle sped through the damp, dark city streets, it's female rider's eyes sweeping from side to side like a hawk searching out it's prey. It was approaching 3am and the streets were almost empty but Santana knew that the person she was looking for would be around. He was nothing if not predictable, that was why she was looking for him.

In the months since they had arrived in Columbus they had been trying to keep a low profile, they didn't want anyone who might know them to be aware of their presence until it became absolutely necessary. Still, they heard things. Sue definitely had the knives out for Santana, Rachel to a lesser degree, but that still translated as them both being completely fucked if they were discovered.

Santana spotted a familiar sign and peeled off smoothly to the right, pulling the bike up outside the building. She swung her leg over and pulled her helmet off, shaking her long, back hair out as she stared up at the neon blue light. She could hear the bass pumping through the door so she hung the helmet on the back of the bike and headed towards the bar.

She unzipped her red leather jacket as she stepped up to the door and ran a hand through the her hair before knocking loudly. A small hatch opened in the door after a few moments and a big, bearded, sweaty guy peered out suspiciously.

"You lost?"

"God, I hope not." She smirked. "Looking to gets my lady lovin on."

Beardy looked her up and down a couple of times, tight fitting black leather pants, low cut tight black top, red leather jacket and a devilish smile. Finally he seemed satisfied and opened the door.

Santana strutted off down the stairs, pausing at the bottom to let her eyes adjust. The place was small but full to bursting, bodies gyrating up against each other from wall to wall. The music was loud, dirty, trashy. She could smell sex in the air and her skin prickled with heat immediately. Oh yeah, this was definitely the kind of place she would find him.

She shrugged off her jacket and wandered over to the bar, scanning the room as she went. She could feel eyes on her from every angle but no threat, as far as she could tell. She squeezed into a gap at the bar and signalled to the bartender.

"Bourbon. Double. Easy with the ice."

He nodded and went about pouring her drink. She turned around and leaned back against the bar, still looking out for him. She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to grab her drink, tossing some money at him before turning back to the dancefloor.

"Hey," A voice purred in her ear. She turned and glanced at the blonde pressed up against her before taking a large sip of her drink and resuming her watch.

"Hey yourself."

"Wanna dance?" The blonde whispered, biting her ear gently.

"No thanks." Santana smiled back. "I'm looking for someone."

"Oh yeah?" Blondie smirked, moving in front of her and running her hands up her stomach. "She as hot as me?"

"Definitely not." She smirked. "But you know, prior commitments and all that."

The girl pouted and pressed herself up harder. "No fun. Oh well, come and find me if she doesn't turn up."

She pressed a kiss to Santana's lips and sauntered off into the crowd, definitely adding an extra sway to her perfect ass for Santana's benefit. What could she do but enjoy the view? It would be rude not to.

Suddenly the view was blocked by a pair of black slacks and an aggressively blue silk shirt. She let her eyes roam up, pausing briefly on the cocky smirk before locking on the ice cold green eyes.

"Well, isn't this a blast of putrid breath from the past." He drawled. "The fuck are you doing here, rugmunch?"

"Nice to see you too." She swallowed the rest of her bourbon and turning back to the bar. "Drink?"

He lifted an eyebrow suspiciously and slid in next to her. "Why not? Scotch. No ice." He added quickly.

Santana ordered the drinks and waited, not really knowing what to say now that she had found him. This was a delicate situation and she needed to play it just right, not easy when everything about him made her want to rip his nuts off and shove them up his ass. She handed him his drink and smiled tightly.

"So." She raised her glass. "Cheers?"

"Cheers." He smirked, raising his glass to meet hers before taking a drink. "So what are you doing here?"

"You know." She shrugged. "Just trying to hook up."

He laughed. "Bullshit."

She narrowed her eyes at him and took a drink, waiting for his justification.

"You think I didn't spot you the minute you walked in? You think I don't spot everyone who walks into my bar?" He leaned back and took a drink, looking around the place. "I haven't seen a single lesbian turn down Ella since this place opened. That's definitely not what you're here for. So what is it?"

"Jesus, you really haven't changed." She chuckled, taking a drink. "Maybe I'm picky?"

"Please." He smiled. "You're a skanky, insecure, low rent, self aggrandising thug with a huge sexual appetite and no conscience. The only reason you would turn her down is if you had...pressing matters to attend to."

Santana used every ounce of self control she had and responded by sticking her tongue firmly into her cheek and cocking her head.

"So, lesho, what are you here for? Really?"

She curled her lips into a smile and cracked her neck before answering. "I need information."

He laughed again. "Thought as much."

Santana turned away and looked across the dancefloor.

"I can't imagine how pissed you were when you found out it was me you would need to come to." He smirked, eyes boring into the side of her head. "But they all do eventually."

Santana locked her eyes onto his. "So what's it going to cost me?"

"Well," he laughed. "That's the kicker, isn't it? What is it that you want?"

She paused and took a drink, eyes discreetly flicking about the room. "Something I don't want to talk about here."

He narrowed his eyes and leaned back against the bar. Santana waited out his response, knowing that there was no other way to play this, knowing that he knew what she meant, hating that everything hung on him. God, why did it have to be him?

"Alright." He said finally, taking out some paper and writing on it. "Let's meet tomorrow. I'll be honest, back in the day I wouldn't piss on you if you were on fire, but now…" He shrugged and handed her the paper. "Times have changed, I guess. I find myself intrigued." He leaned in closer. "I know all about what happened in Lima. Six years ago I would have happily have sold you to the first person who asked, but now…"

Santana turned away, pocketing the paper and downing her drink. "Now?"

He downed his drink and clapped her back. "Times have changed." He repeated, placing his empty glass on the bar and standing in front of her. "See you tomorrow. Midnight. Feel free to bring your backup crew."

Santana watched him slink his way through the crowd and felt her heart tighten. This was the moment. Fight or flight. Leave or leap. Go big or...just go. Meeting him could be suicide, but it was the only play she had at the moment. Either way, the game was afoot.

She ordered a shot of tequila and downed it, snaking her way through the mass of bodies and up the stairs. She nodded at beardy on the way out and grabbed her helmet off the back of her bike. As she settled in the seat and zipped up her jacket she allowed herself to think about the past. Two minutes to remember all that she had done to get here.

Then she pulled the helmet over her head, started the engine and accelerated down the street.


	2. Chapter 2

Santana held her body taut, her face wearing a cocky smirk. She raised her hands in front of her and beckoned with her fingers, inviting Rachel to attack if she could.

Rachel frowned and inched towards her, circling and setting up exploratory feints in the vague hope of finding a weakness in her girlfriend's defenses. She had never been much of a fighter and, although Santana's training had helped her no end, she had never come close to beating her in any of their sparring sessions.

She went for a leg swipe, grunting in frustration as Santana skipped out of the way at the last moment, leaving her to crash down on one knee. Following her training she fell into the tumble and popped back up into a fighting stance.

Santana nodded at her appreciatively and continued her merry, infuriating dance. She dodged easily out of a couple of hopeful body shots, left, then right and when Rachel lunged at her in frustration she easily caught her outstretched arm, spun her around with it and locked her in an embrace, as if they were dancing a tango.

"Careful, Berry," Santana whispered, her lips grazing her ear. She ran her free hand up Rachel's shirt and over her tense stomach. "A person could do bad things if they got you like this."

Rachel felt her frustration flare up again, this time tinged with desire as Santana effortlessly played her. She dropped her knee quickly and caught the taller girl off guard, flipping her over her shoulder and straddling her as she lay winded on the floor. She grabbed Santana's hands and held them tight, using her superior position to pin her down.

"I think I've got it under control," Rachel smirked down at her.

Santana lifted her knees and bucked her pelvis in an effort to throw her off, leading Rachel to shift her weight backwards to bring her back down. With a wicked gleam in her eye she ground her ass down into Santana's crotch, grinning in satisfaction as her girlfriend's breath caught slightly.

"You okay there, baby?" She asked sweetly, rolling her ass just a little further back.

"Just peachy." Santana smiled through gritted teeth, her head tilted back. Her hips bucked again, although this time a little erratically and seemingly against her will. Rachel leaned forward and kissed the bottom of her jaw.

"Are you sure?" She whispered, letting go of Santana's hands and running her hands up to squeeze her breasts slightly.

Santana growled and grabbed Rachel's shoulders, flipping her over and pinning her hands over her head and kissing her roughly.

"You know, this approach is not going to help you in a fight." She husked, eyes dark.

"It might." Rachel smiled, biting her bottom lip.

"It better not." Santana shot back, leaning back down into the kiss. Rachel used the momentary jealous distraction to free her right hand and bring it down between Santana's legs.

"Fuck, Rach!" Santana pulled up quickly and grabbed at her hand. "That's really not going to help."

"Oh, I don't know," She purred, running her free hand up Santana's thigh, her thumb trailing up the seam of her pants. "You seem pretty tense. Might help a little."

Santana licked her lips and rested a hand over Rachel's. "It would help me more to know that you were better equipped to protect yourself." She said, her voice thick with desire.

"I know but we've been at this for an hour." Rachel pouted, gently moving the other hand again. "You've got me all worked up."

Santana's breath caught again and she rocked into Rachel's hand, shaking her head slightly. "Baby, stop…"

Rachel looked up at her, big eyes wide. She moved her hand slowly and more insistently, pulling the other from under Santana's hand and up to her face. The latina leaned into it and moved her hips slightly faster, her eyes closing slowly. Rachel ran her thumb over her parted lips, the hot, fast breath sending a bolt of electricity to her core. She ran her hand round to the back of Santana's neck and pulled her gently down into a kiss as she slid the other one up and inside the girls pants.

Santana moaned into her mouth as Rachel's fingers slid slowly between her wet lips and circled her clit. She moved her hips faster and deeper, searching for more contact. Rachel flexed her thigh up between her legs, causing Santana to slam both of her hands onto the ground, arms trembling to hold herself up.

Rachel broke the kiss and moved her lips down her jawline and neck, her own desire burning at the sound of Santana's erratic breathing rushing past her ear. She moaned as she licked up the latina's neck, earning her a sharp thrust against her hand and a broken cry against her throat. Gently she lifted Santana's leg in between her own, increasingly desperate to release the pressure building there. She grabbed hold of her ass, grinding herself deeper and harder as moans became quicker and higher.

"Oh, God…" She breathed into Rachel's neck, her trembling arms barely supporting her as her hips brought her closer and harder into Rachel's body. Rachel felt her stomach tighten as her girlfriend's breasts pressed into her own, her eyes shut tight and teeth biting into her bottom lip to control herself, even as she ground down ever harder against Rachel's hand.

Rachel moved her fingers slightly and Santana cried out as her arms gave out completely, her head dropped down, her forehead pressed against the floor as she her fingers and toes struggled for purchase.

"Rach...Rachel…" She murmured brokenly, her breath bringing Rachel close to the edge. With another twist of her fingers and sharp thrust of her hips she felt Santana's body tense and her mouth open in a silent cry before she collapsed on top of her completely, breathing hard, languidly kissing her neck as Rachel's own orgasm shuddered through her. They brought their mouths together in a brief, breathless kiss before Santana propped herself up on one elbow, struggling to get her breath under control.

"Fuck," She chuckled, kissing Rachel's jaw. "Rachel Berry, you are a bad, bad student."

"What can I say?" Rachel smiled at her, running her fingers up and down Santana's bicep. "I learned from the best."

"Ahem." An annoyed cough sounded from the door. "So, if you guys are finished with the training room do you mind if we use it?"

"Jesus, Puckerman!" Santana yelled, practically leaping up off the floor in alarm. "Lurk much?"

"Relax!" He smirked, ambling into the room. "I literally just got here. Like, five, ten minutes ago."

"Fucking pervert." She grumbled, extending an arm to help Rachel up off the mat.

"Uh, I'm sorry. Me a pervert?" He asked, hand on his heart. "Out of the three of us, who was the only one not engaging in hot, lesbian sex on the training room floor just now?"

"God, Noah." Rachel scoffed, rolling her eyes at him whilst steering Santana away from him before bad things happened.

"Alright, alright." Puck smiled at her as Mike ambled in. "But if me or my boy here slip and break an ankle on the wet patch, you two are in trouble."

Rachel grabbed Santana by the waist and physically dragged her from the room, a string of Spanish curses battering her ears.

* * *

Rachel grabbed two bottles of water and brought them back over to the table. She handed one to Santana, studying her expression.

"You okay, baby?"

"Yeah," Santana sighed, opening her bottle. "I'm just worried about tonight. I don't trust him, you know?"

"I know," Rachel replied, moving behind Santana's chair and rubbing her shoulders. "Of course you don't, and you shouldn't. He was a despicable little shit in high school and nothing you've told me about your first encounter gives me any indication that he has changed. I'm just glad Blaine isn't here."

"Yeah, I thought that when I found out who we were looking for." She sighed again and leaned back into Rachel's touch. "I still can't believe it. Everything we have to do rests on someone we used to know and who despises us. What are the odds?"

Rachel chuckled softly. "At least it wasn't Jacob."

"God," Santana laughed. "That would have been easy. If it was Jewfro standing between us and those plans, I would just shove you in a room with him and let you show him the girls. Putty in our hands."

"Santana!" Rachel cried, swatting her lightly.

"Aw, come on baby," Santana swivelled round and pulled Rachel into her lap. "I'm only joking."

"No you're not." She smiled, kissing her.

Santana raised her eyes as if in intense thought before shaking her head slightly. "You're right. I'm not. But I would definitely beat the shit out of him straight after."

Rachel laughed and kissed her again before standing up and holding out her hand. "Come on. You need to get some rest before tonight."

As Rachel led her out of the room and down the corridor Santana raised an eyebrow and shot a glance at her.

"Um, Rach? I know where our room is, you don't have to drag me there. Unless…"

Rachel blushed slightly. "I am merely accompanying you to make sure that you are adequately prepared and in a position to receive the optimum benefit from your slumber."

Santana pushed her up against the wall by the door and kissed a trail up her neck. "I love it when you talk dirty…" She slid her hands up Rachel's shirt and a knee between her legs, causing her to gasp slightly.

"Oh, my God, you guys!" Tina cried as she turned into the corridor. "Your room is right there! There comes a point when the whole 'we had to live apart and in secret for two years' doesn't excuse your excessive love of fondling each other in public!"

"Sorry, Tina." Rachel mumbled, blushing and trying desperately to keep a straight face as Santana giggled quietly into her neck.

"Whatever. Just go in your room." Tina rolled her eyes and stalked off down the corridor. "It's not funny, Santana!"

"Sorry, T!" She full on laughed after her as Rachel dragged her into the room.


	3. Chapter 3

_Like before you broke up with me so you could fuck Rachel Berry?_

The chains tightened around her wrists, burning into her, pulling her body upwards.

 _I was never weak, Santana…_

Bright blue eyes flashed in front of her, pain in her side, nausea building in her stomach.

 _Is big, bad Santana Lopez scared?_

She heard the roar of the flame coming closer to her face, the chains pulling her, twisting her, stretching her body. She tried to move, scream, get free. Sweat was pouring off her. The room smelled like burning flesh and there were people talking, laughing, crying.

 _I was only playing._

Suddenly the chains were gone. It was dark. Someone was screaming. Her eyes were closed. She opened them.

 _Sometimes I play up the crazy._

Brittany was chained to the bed beneath her. They were both naked. Santana's hands were locked around her throat. Brittany was writhing around beneath her, hips bucking wildly, rubbing against her. The fear in her eyes was horrifying but Santana could not stop, she could not let go.

 _I love you._

Santana woke with a start, drenched in sweat and shaking like a leaf. Her head was still full of the dream and she felt sick. She started to cry uncontrollably and wrapped her arms around herself, rocking gently on the bed.

"Baby?" Rachel murmured sleepily.

Santana couldn't answer, just shook her head and carried on rocking.

"Baby, what's wrong?" Rachel sat up in alarm and wrapped her arms around her broken girlfriend.

Santana tried to pull away, the contact too much with the lingering memory of the nightmare still forcing bile up her throat.

"Santana," Rachel said softly, trying to gently pull her back. "Please, baby, let me help you."

The words broke something in her and she collapsed into Rachel's embrace, sobbing loudly, shaking her head to try and clear the memory, her body trembling all over.

"It's okay," Rachel whispered, kissing the top of her head and stroking her back. "It's okay, I've got you."

Santana tried desperately to calm herself down but her mind was not playing, all she could see was Brittany's face as she died, as Santana killed her.

She grabbed at Rachel's back, clinging to her and pressing her face into her girlfriend's chest, desperate sobs wracking her whole body, pleading to herself, to Rachel, to God, to make it stop.

Eventually the image faded and she managed to calm down enough for Rachel to be able to pull her back down into the bed. As she lay there in her embrace, Rachel stroking her hair tenderly, a wave of guilt and sadness washed over her.

"I'm sorry." She whispered.

Grief and exhaustion pulled her back down and she slept for another couple of hours. She woke up still locked in Rachel's embrace and carefully pulled herself out of it, not wanting to wake the other girl for fear that she would want to talk about it. She wasn't ready for that. Not yet.

Santana left the room quietly and went back to the training room, working out her frustration on the punch bag. She had never told Rachel what had happened to her in the basement. Rachel had asked a couple of times but she had never been able to find the words, so she had just given a slight shake of the head and Rachel had understood. None of them knew the full story, not even Cara, who probably knew the most from dealing with the aftermath. She had seen Brittany's body, seen the marks on her neck, but she had never asked, never said anything about it.

The memory of laying Brittany out on the floor next to Quinn flashed across her brain, leaving in it's wake anger, pain and bitterness.

"Fuck!" She yelled, laying punches into the bag as if it was the source of all these memories.

"Easy, Lopez, a replacement won't be easy to come by if you break it." Puck said gently, steadying the bag with one hand and offering her a beer with the other. "You alright?"

"Just dandy, thanks." She replied, breathing hard and taking a long, grateful pull on the beer.

"You want to, ah, talk about it?" He asked hesitantly.

Santana let out a huff of amusement and dropped her head, hand on hip. "You know, one of these days I'm going to say yes when you ask me that question." She looked up at him and smiled wickedly. "My guess is that you'll run screaming from the room."

Puck laughed. "Maybe. But I'll just have gone to get the tequila." He put his arm round her shoulders easily and led her away from the punch bag. "So, what's the plan for tonight?"

"I guess I go in and meet him, you guys find somewhere to keep an eye out for trouble and try to have my back if things go south?"

"You're not going in by yourself."

"Come on, Puck," She stopped in front of the door and faced him. "On a scale of one to bet your sweet ass, how likely is it that this is a trap? The more of us go in, the fewer of us are left to…"

"You are not going in by yourself." Rachel said from behind her.

"Rach…"

"Not a discussion." Rachel shook her head and crossed her arms. "I'm going in with you. If it is a trap, so be it. I am not going to let them separate us again. Puck, Cara, Mike and Tina can watch our backs. We'll head out there now so we can check the layout, see possible ambush sites, escape routes, etc. Are we all ready to go?"

Santana stood there, mouth agape, Puck trying unsuccessfully to stifle a laugh behind her.

"Good. Then let's get on with it." She flipped her hair over her shoulder and turned on her heel, beckoning to the other three as she walked past the kitchen.

"Well," Puck laughed and patted her on the back. "That's you told."

Santana span round and poked him in the chest. "Now you listen to me, Puckerman. If anything happens to her in there, if that slimy little shit pulls anything, I am relying on you to get her out. Do you hear me?"

"Hey, I got your back, you know that." He grabbed her shoulders and locked eyes with her. "I'll get you both out."

"She's the priority." She shrugged him off and walked after Rachel. "Just remember that."

Santana hurried off down the hall to catch Rachel, entering the garage just as she was zipping up her jacket.

"Rachel…" She started.

"Still not a discussion, Santana." Rachel cut her off, pulling her hair out of her coat and tying it up.

"Please just think about this." Santana begged her. "If we both just walk in there and it's a set up, they've won."

"Fine." Rachel folded her arms and looked at her calmly.

"Really?" She smiled in relief.

"Of course." Rachel smiled back. "You're right, we can't both go. I'll go by myself, you stay with Puck and the others."

"Uh-uh. No way." Santana copied her pose, shaking her head violently. "Never going to happen."

"Well, I'm not letting you go in by yourself so I suppose we are at an impasse." She smiled sweetly and grabbed her helmet off the bench. "Shall we go?"

Santana huffed at her in frustration and grabbed her jacket off the hook. "You are a goddamn nightmare sometimes."

Rachel moved slowly towards her. "Speaking of which…"

"Not now, Rachel." She muttered, zipping up her jacket roughly and grabbing her helmet. "Come on, let's just get this over with."

Santana kicked her leg over the bike and started the engine, waiting for Rachel to climb into position before peeling out into the night.


	4. Chapter 4

Rachel wrapped her arms around Santana's waist and rested her head on her back. They were speeding through the streets towards the meeting point, the others following in the truck.

She hated this. She hated all of it. She would have given anything to just stay in Mexico and start building a life there but she knew that Santana needed to do this. She would never be able to rest until Sue Sylvester was no longer a threat. So here they were, once again diving headlong into a potentially deadly situation with no plan, limited resource and little chance of success.

She was scared. She could admit it. After everything they had been through in Lima, and recovering from their injuries in Mexico, Columbus had been the first time she and Santana had been able to just be together, like a normal couple. With all the months of searching for information Rachel had almost been able to forget why they were here and let herself just be with the person she loved.

She hugged tighter and Santana dropped her hand to stroke Rachel's arm in return. She wished they had been able to talk about Santana's dream before all of this. She had had nightmares before but not like that, not that Rachel had seen. She just wished she could talk about what had happened to her, that she could let Rachel help her. But her reticence to discuss her feelings was part of what made Santana who she was, and though Rachel had worked hard to break through her carefully constructed defenses, she knew when to back off and let Santana come to her. She just wished that she would.

Santana slowed the bike and made a left turn, pulling to a stop outside an abandoned warehouse. Rachel jumped off the bike and took a look around. She pulled her helmet off and turned back towards Santana, gasping slightly in surprise as she pulled her into a passionate kiss.

"You know how much I love you, right?" Santana asked, dropping her forehead against her own. "Please understand why I don't want you to go in there with me?"

Rachel nodded and brushed the hair off Santana's face. "But you have to know that I feel exactly the same way and I cannot let you do this. I cannot lose you, Santana, and if this goes bad I want to be right there with you, not trying to get to you, imagining all the horrific things they are doing to you. Again." She grabbed the front of her jacket and pulled her back into a kiss.

The truck pulled to a stop behind them and Cara jumped out.

"Alright, ladies, times a wasting." She announced, stopping in front of them, arms crossed. "Let's get to it."

Santana nodded and started across the street. "Cara and I will check out the yard. Rachel, take Mike and Tina and check out the inside. Puck, get that truck out of sight and meet me out back." She squeezed Rachel's hand and let go, heading round the back of the building with Cara in tow.

* * *

Rachel sat on a crate and watched Santana stalk up and down the yard. She flashed her eyes up to the windows on the top floor, drawing slight comfort from the fact that their friends were hidden there.

There was movement at the entrance to the yard. Santana stopped her pacing and moved herself in front of Rachel, planting her feet firmly and crossing her arms. With a roll of her eyes Rachel jumped off her crate and stood next to her, mimicking her stance. Santana shot her a sideways glance, frowning slightly and shifted her position as three dark figures walked through the gate.

"Rachel Berry. I would love to say how good lesbian looks on you but..." He drawled, stepping into the light before cutting his eyes at Santana. "Weren't you trying to tell me yesterday that you were picky?"

"Sebastian." Rachel answered, gently placing a hand on Santana's arm before she could react. "Not even a hello before you launch into the insults. I see you haven't changed."

"Whereas you seem to have become a completely different person." He smirked. "Well, not completely different. You're still weird looking and annoying. I suppose Santana's tongue can't fix everything."

"Alright, let's cut the crap." Santana took a step towards him. "You know I love a good exchange of insults as much as the next bitch but I'm more than a little concerned that you're about to burst into an annoyingly nasal rendition of some mediocre pop song or other and, frankly, I don't think I could stop myself ripping out your vocal chords and then I wouldn't get what I want. I hate it when I don't get what I want."

Sebastian chuckled and took a step towards her. "Okay. I'll play. What is it that you want?"

Rachel wrapped her arms around herself a little tighter. This was it. She glanced over at Santana who was eyeing up the two impossibly big men standing a few feet behind Sebastian. There was no doubt in her mind that they were not the only backup he had brought with him.

"Information." Santana started, shifting her stance slightly. "I need information about Sue Sylvester."

"Right." He smiled. "Well, that's the thing, isn't it? See, a lot of people come to me for information. Rightly so, I know everything about everyone and I know how to make a good deal. But this…" He sucked on his teeth and raised his eyebrows. "This could get me killed. On the flipside, this probably will get you killed so...I'm in."

Rachel let out the breath she didn't know she had been holding.

"Just like that?" Santana narrowed her eyes.

"Well, no, you halfwit." Sebastian scoffed. "Like I said, I know how to make a good deal. So you tell me exactly what you want and I'll tell you exactly what I want."

"Hmm." Santana glanced at Rachel. "And what is it that you want?"

"I asked you first."

"God, are you twelve?" She glared at him. "Alright, I want her itinerary and the schematics to her compound. Now what do you want?"

He dug his hands into his pockets and smiled smugly. "Blaine."

Rachel took a step forward. "What?"

"No way." Santana shook her head. "Blaine isn't with us, and even if he was…"

"No Blaine, no Sue." Sebastian shrugged and started to walk away. "You know where to find me."

"Sebastian!" Rachel called after him. "There has to be something else?"

He stopped and turned to face her. "I don't think you understand what you are asking for. If it gets back to Sue that I am asking for this stuff I am as good as dead." He shrugged. "All I'm asking for is a show of faith."

"But Blaine is still in..."

"Forget it, Rachel." Santana interrupted, shooting her a warning glance. "He was never going to help us."

Sebastian smiled and looked up at the window. "You guys have been sniffing around here for, what? Five weeks? Surely if there was any other option than coming to me you would have used it?"

The two girls exchanged a look.

"Yeah, that's what I thought. See, I know everything about this place. I know the other leads you could have tried and, trust me, they won't be able to help you. More than likely they'll take what they can from you and sell you to her so fast even your impressive bike won't help you. Ducati Monster, right?"

"I didn't come here to talk to you about bikes, pendejo." Santana snarled, inspecting her fingernails like she did whenever she didn't want to face a particular situation.

"Yeah, well, if you had I am sure you would be having a much more satisfactory conversation." He smiled as he straightened his jacket and took a step towards them. "Now, I assume you'll need a few days to make arrangements so I will see you at the club on Thursday. Questions?"

"Just one." Santana closed the distance between them put on her fakest smile. "Didn't you already lose this game against us? Twice?"

"I think you'll find the rules are slightly different this time around, lady trail." Sebastian smiled tightly and walked off.


	5. Chapter 5

Santana sat with her head in her hands, her friends arguing around her. She was barely keeping up with the discussion, her mind too full of the lack of options she was suddenly in possession of. Sebastian had been right. She had known about him since a few days after arriving in town and she had looked into every other option available to them before seeking him out, including the guy who lived in the bus depot and made art out of soiled underwear. It was hopeless.

Of course, there was one other option. She had been to Sue's compound before, she knew the vague layout, some of the security. With a bit of luck…

"Santana?"

She looked up. They were all staring at her. Apparently she had been asked something.

"What do you think?" Mike asked. "Do we go?"

"Go where?" She answered quietly. She didn't like the sound of this.

"Mexico?"

"And why the fuck would you want to do that?" Santana stood up angrily.

"Um…" Mike backed up warily.

"Okay, quick recap for those who have been elsewhere for the last ten minutes." Puck stood in between them as Rachel reached out and rubbed her arm gently. "We were just discussing the fact that we need major backup now that our plan has turned to shit. If we don't do as he asks Sebastian won't think twice about selling us out to Sue. Mike was asking if he and Tina should head back and round up the rest of the guys so we can…"

"Absolutely not."

"Santana…" Rachel started carefully.

"I said absolutely not." Santana repeated, slightly more aggressively than she intended. "It's bad enough that I dragged you guys into this bullshit. I refuse to sacrifice any more of my friends to that woman."

"Woah, let's just get one thing straight, shall we?" Tina stepped up. "You didn't drag any of us into this. We came with you of our own accord because Sue Sylvester has taken something from each of us. Maybe not as much as the two of you but…"

"Okay, let's just stop, shall we?" Santana snapped.

"Baby…" Rachel said softly, stepping closer to her.

"We are not having this discussion." Santana ignored her and faced the rest of the group, anger boiling up inside her. "All we have back in Mexico is a bunch of scared kids who have been through hell and an old man who is the only family I have left. If we bring them here the only thing that will happen is that we will get them all killed. I appreciate the fact that you guys came with me and I'm sorry for the fact that she took your nice, normal futures from you but this isn't your fight. It's mine."

"Santana…" Rachel tried again, a little harsher this time.

"No, Rachel." Santana whipped round, anger contorting her face. "That woman is responsible for turning the two people I loved most in the world into monsters and tried to do the same to me. My reward for not following her path? She put me in a position where I was living a double life for four years, ending up with me being shot, stabbed and chained to a bed by my best friend, believing that you had been burned alive, then being raped and attacked with a blowtorch by my first love who I had to choke to death with my chains."

Rachel took a step back, looking a shaken and a little hurt. Her reaction caused Santana to turn back to the group, shame and regret sweeping over her.

"So," She continued, trying to calm herself down, get her breath back under control and stop the tears that were threatening to break through. "You will forgive me when I say that I am not interested in any plan that involves bringing more people into this nightmare, and if any of you don't like that then, by all means, go to Mexico. Just don't come back."

She stormed out of the room and into the garage. Quickly she grabbed her jacket, pulled her helmet on and jumped on the bike, accelerating out of the building before anyone could come after her.

She knew she was being stupid, she knew that Rachel would be worried about her, but she couldn't deal with being there right now. She shouldn't have blurted all that out in front of the others, she should have talked to Rachel about it properly like she had asked her to. She just couldn't. She had never been good at dealing with her feelings. Okay, that was a small understatement. It had taken her three years to come to terms with her feelings for Brittany and, if not for her being outed by Finn, it would probably have taken her at least another couple of years to admit that those feelings were not just about one girl. And, of course, when she first realised that she was falling for Rachel she had nearly broken her arm and then…

Santana pulled the bike over and jumped off quickly, pulling her helmet off and gasping desperately to get some air into her lungs. She bent double and tried to ride out the wave of shame that washed over her with the memory of what she had done to Rachel.

"Goddamn it!" She yelled out into the dark, angry tears breaking down her cheeks. "Fuck!"

She threw her helmet on the ground and stormed up and down, her chest heaving with frustrated rage. She had no idea what to do. There had to be another way. There had to be.

As she began to calm down she started to take more notice of her surroundings. She had been riding for around twenty minutes, not really paying attention to where she was going, and she realised that she was out by the airport. How the hell was she out here? She realised she was cold and zipped up her jacket before bending down to pick up her helmet and getting back on the bike. She carried on down the road another few miles, following it round to the south east, and slowed slightly as the lights and tall fences of Sue's compound came into view. She was being reckless, she knew that, but she couldn't bring herself to care. She just wanted it finished.

The gates were opening. Her heart leapt into her mouth and her brain went into overdrive. Just a burst of acceleration, a quick turn to the left and she would be in. She would be so close to the woman who had destroyed her life that she would be practically breathing the same air. A black van pulled through the gates, heading in the direction she had come from. She focused her eyes on the road ahead and accelerated quickly, leaving the compound behind her. Sure, she was reckless and impulsive but she wasn't stupid. Maybe she could have got through the gates without being shot but what then? There were at least five guards on the gates, many more patrolling the perimeter and three on the main door. She had no weapons, no back up and no plan.

But she was beginning to form one.

* * *

Cara was waiting for her in the kitchen.

"Nice storm out." She smirked at her. "She's really starting to rub off on you."

"Don't push me, Harris." Santana shot back, eyes narrowing. "I'm really not in the mood."

Cara tipped back in her chair and pulled a bottle of bourbon out of the cupboard behind her along with two glasses. She poured as Santana pulled a chair up to the table and sat down wearily, the pushed one glass over to her as she lifted her own. Santana clinked it and took a large drink.

"I fucked up." She sighed. "I never should have told her like that. Never should have taken it out on you guys like that."

Cara shrugged. "We'll live. We're all big boys and girls. Her you need to make it right with, though." She took a drink and eyed Santana carefully. "You can't do that to her. Leave like that. It's not fair."

"Don't you think I know that?" She spat back. Cara raised her hands in submission and she sighed again. "I'm sorry, I just...I'm just...I can't…"

"I know." Cara said quietly.

Santana swirled her drink around her glass, losing herself in the amber liquid. She needed to get it together and quickly. She couldn't afford to be weak but she couldn't seem to get a handle on the things that were haunting her recently. All her life she had built up her walls, carefully compartmentalising all the things she couldn't or wouldn't deal with, saving them up for the moment where she would be able to. That moment had never seemed to come, though, and now she felt like she was running out of space. Sometimes it felt like all it would take was one more thing to happen and it would all spill over, she would be drown. How much easier would it be just to give in to it? There were times when she almost had and if she lost one more of her friends she knew that she would. And if she lost Rachel…

She sighed a third time and took another drink. "I need you to come somewhere with me tomorrow."

"Okay. When?"

"After dark. I may have an idea and I just need to check a couple of things out."

"No problem, boss." Cara smiled and knocked back her drink. "Now go make things right with your girl."

Santana nodded and tipped back the remainder of her bourbon, dropping her glass in the sink on the way past.

"Thanks, Cara." She wrapped an arm around her neck from behind and gave her a quick hug. "You better go too. You don't want to leave Puckerman hanging." She flashed a smug smile at the younger girl's blushing face and headed down the corridor to her room.

Their room.

She paused outside the door and tried to work out what to say. God, she was an asshole. If the roles were reversed she would be out of her mind with worry. How could she have done that? What could she say to make it right?

The door in front of her swung open and Rachel appeared, eyes red and face blotchy. Santana's heart clenched at the sight, knowing she had caused this with her selfish stupidity.

"Rach…" She started, her voice catching.

Rachel shook her head and took her hand, gently pulling her into the room and shutting the door behind her. She stepped in close and ran her hands up Santana's back, kissing her softly but urgently, tears slowly rolling down her face. Santana wiped her thumbs tenderly across her cheeks to wipe them away, guilt making her stomach clench.

"I'm so sorry." She whispered, kissing Rachel's cheeks, then eyes, before returning to her lips.

Rachel brought one of her hands up into her hair and pulled her in deeper, her tongue pushing in between her lips and lighting a fire in Santana's belly. Her free hand pushed up the back of the taller girl's tank top before lightly scraping her nails back down and plunging her hand down the back of her pants, grabbing the bare skin of her ass roughly.

"Jesus, Rachel!" Santana gasped, her senses overblown by her girlfriend's reaction. Rachel kissed a trail down her neck before latching onto her collarbone, drawing a stifled moan from her as she reached out to the door for support. As her body began to adjust to what was happening she dropped both hands to Rachel's ass and lifted her up, legs wrapping around her waist as she carried her over to the bed. She laid her down on it and leaned down to kiss her, only breaking it to raise her arms as Rachel pulled her top over her head and threw it across the room. She was flipped over onto her back and Rachel straddled her, ripping her own t shirt off and throwing it blindly behind her before dropping back down and kissing her hungrily.

Santana felt like her whole body was on fire. Rachel's hands were all over her, stroking, squeezing, scratching. She was kissing her like she had not seen her in years, or like she never would again. She felt the clasp on her bra open and then it too was lost to the room, Rachel's mouth all over her breasts, tongue circling her nipple before pulling it into her mouth. She let out a broken cry as her body arched up into Rachel's, the fire growing as she felt her grind down into her hips.

She reached down and popped the button on Rachel's pants, quickly pushing them down her legs and onto the floor. She arched up again as Rachel's teeth grazed her nipple and she could feel her girlfriend's arousal through her underwear as she ground down on her again.

"Fuck, baby," She breathed, dropping her hand between her legs and running her fingers lightly over Rachel's soaked underwear. Rachel lifted her head, her breath catching in her throat as she moved against her hand. She kissed her again, moaning deeply into Santana's mouth as she moved her hips more insistently. With her free hand Santana undid the clasp on Rachel's bra and pulled it off before rolling her on her back and kissing her way down her body. As she worked her way down she removed the girl's ruined underwear and pushed her legs open gently, the heave of her chest as her breathing grew more and more erratic causing Santana to slow down, relishing the sensations that were shooting through her own body at the sight.

Rachel writhed underneath her as she drew closer to her goal, her breath heavier and louder, her hooded eyes gazing down at her, pleading. Santana's stomach tensed and flipped, as if she was riding a rollercoaster, and she dropped her face down between her legs. The scent of Rachel's arousal made her mouth water and she breathed out a low moan. Rachel's hips bucked at the feel of it and her hands shot down into Santana's hair, her fingers curling against her scalp. Drinking in the sensations Santana licked her lips and breathed a little heavier over Rachel's clit, causing her to whimper and twitch her fingers impatiently. Unable to wait any longer she gently ran her tongue through her wet folds, flicking her tongue lightly as she reached the point where Rachel was desperate for her to be.

"Oh, fuck…" Rachel breathed out, her voice tremulous. Her fingers flexed through Santana's hair before curling back up again, gently scratching across her scalp. Santana ran her own hands gently up and down Rachel's sides, lazily drawing patterns with her fingertips which mirrored those she was drawing with her tongue. Slowly she dragged her fingertips across Rachel's stomach, just above her hip bone, an area she knew drove Rachel crazy. Sure enough Rachel's whole body tensed and her hands stilled in Santana's hair. She flattened her tongue and slowly ran it up from her entrance, stiffening it to a point to run over Rachel's clit. Rachel let out a shivery, high pitched moan and arched off the bed, right hand shooting away from Santana's head to find something above her to grab onto.

Santana kept the pressure on, circling and sucking her, getting closer and closer with every pass, Rachel's responses bringing her close to bursting. The hand still in her hair began to tighten and she felt Rachel's heel push into her lower back so she knew she was getting close. She tightened her lips on Rachel, at the same time pushing two fingers into her.

"Oh, jees…...fuck!" Rachel cried out, eyes locking with Santana's before rolling back as she pushed in again. "Oh, God…" She breathed out, hips arching up to meet her, one leg wrapped around her, hands flailing around, desperately searching for an anchor. As her cries became more and more wanton and her bucking hips more erratic, Santana felt her walls tighten and knew it was time. She curled her fingers up and flicked her tongue, sucking lightly as she did so, and Rachel came apart loudly, her whole body tensed, her back arched, her hand gripping the headboard, head tilted back to expose her long, beautiful throat. As her body started to relax a little, Santana kissed her way up to her favourite place, fingers still moving slowly and gently to help Rachel ride out her aftershocks. She wrapped her free arm under her girlfriend's neck and around her shoulders, kissing and licking her way gently along her collarbone to the hollow at the base of her throat. Rachel let out a low moan as she reached it, a slightly more pronounced tremor running through her, and she turned her face to Santana's, pressing her lips to her forehead and pulling her up into a kiss.

"Don't leave me like that again." She whispered, dark eyes intensely locked with hers.

Santana shook her head. "I won't. I promise." She kissed her again and went to pull her fingers out. Rachel grabbed her hand and shook her head, her pupils fully blown and sexy as hell. She held Santana's hand in place as she started to rock her hips again, breath hot and fast against her mouth, eyes never leaving hers, free hand running up and down her back, naked bodies pressed together, Santana so turned on she could feel it running down her thigh.

"I love you." Rachel whispered shakily, her thighs starting to tremble again. Santana pulled her into a deep kiss and curled her fingers, causing Rachel to cry out into her mouth as she came hard, nails digging into her back and dragging down.

"I love you too, baby." Santana whispered as Rachel lay panting against her. "I'm sorry."

"Ssh." Rachel kissed her and ran her hand through her hair, pushing it off her face. "It's okay, I get it. You're under so much pressure and you freaked out. You bolted."

"Yeah, but I shouldn't have." Santana sighed. "I should have talked to you, like you asked."

"And you will, and I forgive you." Rachel kissed her again, then smiled sinfully as she pushed her on her back and climbed on top of her. "Let me show you how much."

Santana smiled up at her as she began to run her hands up and down her body. Something told her this was going to be a very long night...


	6. Chapter 6

Santana and Cara pushed through the crowd, the music pulsing all around them. They were in a small field, a stage set up at one end and metal tree like sculptures around the perimeter. Flames shot out of the top of each of them in time with the beat and smoke leaked out of the trunks, lending the makeshift arena an ethereal feel.

"Hey ladies." A creepy middle aged guy popped up in front of them and held up two joints. "A little gift for you. From Weyland. Enjoy the show."

He handed them over and disappeared into the crowd. Santana turned to Cara and raised an eyebrow.

"I think it's safe to say he knows we're here." Cara pointed out.

"Oh well," Santana shrugged. "May as well just do as the man says then." She pulled out a lighter and sparked up.

"Cool." Cara followed suit and together they turned to the stage and watched the show. "So. What's the plan?"

Santana looked over at her questioningly.

"When we meet Weyland. What's the plan? We don't exactly have much to trade for them."

Santana shrugged. "We'll figure something out."

Cara snorted. "Yeah, cos that went so well last time, right?"

"This is Weyland, not Sebastian." She took a drag and turned back to the stage. "His motivations are much clearer."

"Well." Cara smirked. "You're the boss, boss."

"And don't you forget it." She smiled.

They stood there in silence for a while, letting the music wrap around them, enjoying the feel of the crowd. Cara thought back to the last time she had smoked. It was about a month before everything fell apart. She and Santana had been out with some of the Cheerios when they had come across a bunch of guys too stupid or too stoned to know not to mess with them. The other girls had kicked the crap out of them and taken whatever they had, handing it all over to Santana, of course. She had kept hold of one of the bags and given the rest back to the girls, warning them not to let Quinn know they were high, then the two of them had snuck up to the roof. In hindsight it was the calm before the storm. She wondered if Santana was thinking the same.

"So, you and Puck, huh?" Santana asked, breaking her reverie.

"Shut up."

"Oh, come on!" Santana shoved her gently. "You have to tell me what's going on. It's not like if you tell me I might accidentally let it slip and get the two of you killed, right?"

Cara glared at her and kept quiet.

"Alright, look." Santana turned fully to face her. "You don't have to tell me anything. Just, you know. I'm here if you want to. S'all I'm saying." She took a drag and blew the smoke straight into Cara's face before shooting her a huge smile.

"Bitch." Cara laughed and coughed at the same time, waving the smoke away. "It's just...Puck is...you know, it's all just really new. And different." She finished softly. Her head dropping slightly.

"Yeah, I know." Santana squeezed her shoulder gently. "I guess I'm just...well, I just want to see you happy again, you know? After Dev…"

"Alright, I get it." Cara snapped and shrugged her hand off. "Yay! Cara's finally getting some action again! It's only taken her four years to get over the murder of her ex. Can we drop it now?"

"Hey." Santana frowned at her slightly before softening her expression and continuing gently. "Look, I'm sorry. I just meant...well, I worry about you, 'kay? Just don't, you know, tell anyone."

"Please," Cara tried to smile, her buzz effectively ruined. "As if everyone doesn't already know what an enormous wuss you are."

"Whatever. I'm a badass and everyone can kiss my ass."

"Yeah, right." She snorted. "It's totally badass when you look at Rachel with those adorable puppy dog eyes. You have people quaking in their boots when they see the pair of you together. It's actually terrifying how loved up you are."

"Shut up." Santana elbowed her, looking completely embarrassed. "I can still smack you all down if I wanted to."

"Aw, so cute."

"Woah!" She snapped, glaring at her. "Too far, Cara. Too fucking far."

Cara laughed. "Aw, what's the matter? Does big, bad Santana Lopez not..."

"Don't fucking call me that!" Santana spun round and shoved her roughly, the tip of her joint burning her upper arm.

"What the fuck?" Cara glared at her and rubbed her arm.

"Ladies." Creepy guy draped an arm over each of their shoulders. "Mr Weyland will see you now. Follow me."

Santana's eyes softened and she rubbed Cara's arm gently as she pushed past. "Come on, let's get this over with."

Cara turned and followed her through the crowd. What the fuck had that all been about? Santana had always been a major league bitch but she had never actually hit her before. As if she could feel eyes on her Santana glanced back over her shoulder and frowned slightly. Something was going on with her, Cara could feel it. She was too close to the edge for comfort, and they needed her to be in control. If Santana went postal they were all dead, and going up against Sue when she wasn't a hundred per cent? Well, that was just suicide.

"Ladies!" Weyland greeted them warmly as they entered the trailer at the back of the field. "So lovely to see you again. I take it this meeting will be more productive than the last?"

"Well that depends on you, Weyland." Santana chuckled. "You going to set your dogs on me again?"

"You know I had a good reason for that." He smiled tightly and rubbed his moustache. "So, what do you have for me?"

"Information."

"What kind?"

"About Sue Sylvester. About where she's getting her supplies from."

Cara shot her a sideways glance.

Weyland chuckled and folded his hands in front of himself. "I already know where she gets her supplies from. Everyone knows that."

"Hmm," Santana smiled up at him, a glint in her eyes. "Well, what if I told you that I was out front of her place yesterday and saw a van leaving." Cara's stare got a little more blatant at this statement. There would definitely be a discussion around that revelation later. "A black van with a red symbol on it. Kind of like a little cog?"

Weyland's eyes narrowed. "Bullshit."

Santana shrugged. "Get your boys to check it out if you don't believe me. It was around 3am. I doubt she'll be needing another one til...Thursday?"

He turned and spoke briefly to one of his men. The guy shrugged and turned to the laptop set up on the table next to him. The pair of them huddled over it and concentrated on whatever he was pulling up on the screen.

"Zoom in on that." Weyland said, pointing at something. The guy tapped on the keypad and Weyland punched the table. "That little japanese prick."

Santana crossed her arms and glanced at Cara. Cara pulled her hands into fists, knowing this was going one of two ways.

"Risky move, that. You show up quite clearly on her cameras." Weyland turned back to them. "I'm impressed. What exactly were you hoping to achieve, I wonder?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Santana smirked. "So, you going to give me what I asked for now?"

He looked at her with an amused expression. "Do you know, I believe I will. David. Get the ladies what they came here for. Please."

The guy from the laptop walked out of the trailer and Weyland sat on the edge of the table, folding his arms and eyeing her suspiciously.

"You know, Ms Cruz, usually I would ask for a great deal more when handing over a cache of this value but I find myself intrigued by you."

"Yeah," Santana scoffed. "I get that a lot recently."

"Yes, I bet." He stroked his moustache again and eyed her appreciatively. "You know how Sue Sylvester feels about people being near her compound. Do you really think she didn't notice?"

"She'd have to find me first." She shrugged.

"Hmm. Or she could just pay someone a large amount of money to bring you in?"

David returned, his large form filling the doorway. Santana glanced at him but her expression stayed neutral.

"That's a good point, British." She said evenly. "Let's just hope she's not that interested, huh?"

"Yes," Weyland smiled. "That would be very unfortunate. For you. To have people looking for you, digging into your past. You might as well paint a target on your back. Right?"

"Right." She smiled. "Fortunately there's not that much to find out."

"Hmm. Your request would suggest otherwise." He gestured to David who walked fully into the room with two kit bags and handed them over to them.

"Just a bitch who doesn't like getting dumped is all." She shrugged, opening up her bag and checking out her prize.

"The contents of that bag suggest a little more than that," Weyland smirked. "But, just to be on the safe side, remind me never to dump you."

"Please." She shot him a withering look. "You're not really my type, Dr Who."

"Pity." He smiled, standing up and offering his hand. "A pleasure doing business with you, Ms Cruz. Enjoy your vendetta. No doubt we will meet again."

"God, I hope not." She replied, shaking his hand. "No offence."

"None taken. David, show the ladies out would you?"

Cara tugged the bag onto her shoulder and followed the guy out and back through the crowd. She said nothing until they had reached the exit and were walking towards Santana's bike.

"So, you want to tell me what the fuck you were doing at Sue's compound? Other than trying to get yourself killed?"

"Pipe down, Red." Santana snapped, grabbing her helmet and shoving the other towards Cara. "It got us what we needed, didn't it?"

"But you had no way of knowing that when you went out there. Alone. If you had gotten caught…"

"But I didn't."

"But you could have. If Rachel knew…"

"Hey!" Santana grabbed her coat, her eyes narrowing dangerously. "Rachel doesn't know, and she doesn't need to. Ever."

"You know," Cara grabbed her wrists and pulled them roughly from her jacket. "That's the second time in an hour that you've put your hands on me and I'm officially not a fan. What's up with you?"

"Nothing." Santana scowled and shoved her helmet on. "I'm fine. Get on."

Cara stayed where she was, holding the helmet in front of her. Santana swung her leg over the bike and kicked the stand up. After a few seconds she seemed to notice Cara hadn't moved and looked back at her.

"What the hell are you doing? Get on the bike."

"We need you, Santana." She said quietly. "So even if you don't want to talk about it you need to figure it out, fast, and get your head in the fucking game." She pulled her helmet on and jumped on the bike, angling her hands round the kit bag on her back to grab hold of the handle as Santana started up the engine and headed home.


	7. Chapter 7

"Check it!" Santana cried, dropping the kit bags on the table. "Our very own arsenal. Booyah!"

Rachel stared at the bags for a second and then glanced at the two girls. Santana's face was lit up with joy, a sense of accomplishment radiating from her. Cara was wearing a strange expression, one Rachel hadn't seen before. Disappointment? Maybe a little anger? The girl shrugged and walked off, pulling out a chair and dropping down into it heavily.

"How?" Rachel asked. "Where?"

"Weyland." Santana said, lifting one shoulder, her face dropping a little.

"What?" Puck stepped forward. "I thought that guy tried to kill you?"

"He didn't try and kill me." Santana glared. "He just...you know, set his guys on me one time. It was a misunderstanding." She shrugged and shook her head, leaning on the table.

"Oh, well if it was just that one time…" Puck scoffed.

"Santana," Rachel interrupted, cutting her eyes at Puck. "How did you get these?"

"I just gave him some information he was after." Santana shrugged again. "No big deal."

"What kind of information?"

Santana looked around the room, a dark cloud dropping over her face. "What difference does it make? Look, we have the weapons we need. What difference does it make how we got them? Come on, guys, we finally have a chance!"

Rachel looked over at Puck. He flipped his gaze from Santana to Cara, eyebrows lifted questioningly.

"Hey, don't look at me." She held her hands up. "I'm just the back up."

"Are you all kidding me?" Santana snapped. "Look, we have a shot at this now. We obviously still need a way to get in but we're in a much better position than we were this time yesterday. We just need to pull together and...wait, where are Mike and Tina?"

Rachel looked quickly at Puck and Cara, both of whom were staring at her. Great. She supposed she should have just told Santana straight away but she had been so worried about her and when she had eventually come home...well, she had just been so relieved, and her emotions had just taken over. So here she was. Better just to get it over with.

"They left, Santana."

"What? Why?"

"Um, maybe because you told them to?" Puck spat.

"I didn't…" Santana started angrily, before the confusion gave way to recognition. "Oh come on, really? Come on, guys, I was...for God's sake! Now? Now is the time they choose to listen to me?"

She dropped down into the chair behind her and put her head in her hands. Rachel took a step towards her.

"We all listen to you, Santana. All the time." Puck said angrily. "But when all we're hearing is that you don't need us, that you don't trust us, that you're carrying us, how can you expect us to stay?"

"Oh yeah?" Santana shot back, looking up at him angrily. "Then what the fuck are you still doing here, Puckerman?"

"Santana, please just…"

"No, Rachel, I won't just." Santana jumped back up. "I am so sick of this bullshit! I'm not here to stroke your fucking ego, Puckerman. I'm sorry if I don't hold your hand and talk about my feelings and shit with you but I kind of have bigger things to deal with at the moment. You know like coming up with a plan to take out the psychotic mega bitch who who is intent on destroying the whole fucking world? And if Mike and Tina, or any of the rest of you don't get that then…" She raised her hands and slapped them down on her thighs.

"Are you hearing yourself?" Puck shouted back. "You can act like this all you want, throw all the shit at us you think you need to but the fact is that you need us, Lopez. You can't do this yourself and if you keep shutting us out…"

"I'm not shutting you out!" Santana yelled. "I'm bringing you in! I brought all of you in! I got this place, I found all of our contacts, I got us weapons, for God's sake! What more do you want me to do?"

"Talk to us! Tell us your plans! Let us help you!"

"Yeah, sure. Okay. How can you help me, Puck? Tell me."

"Oh, I don't know." Puck folded her arms and glared at her. "Dragging my ass down a tunnel to come get you? Pulling your girlfriend out of a fire? Shooting the mother of my child in the fucking head?"

It was as if all the air had been sucked out of the room. Rachel felt sick. She couldn't bear how much everyone she loved was hurting so much and there was nothing she could do to help them. She glanced up at Santana. She looked devastated. Rachel walked over to her and took her hand, standing next to her and stroking her arm. Gently Santana stilled her hand and removed it, taking an unsteady step towards Puck, Rachel following with her eyes. The muscles in his jaw were working overtime and he was looking anywhere but at Santana.

"Puck, I…"

"Save it, alright?" He said quietly. "You don't want to talk, we don't talk. Just...just get your shit together and stop taking it out on us."

He turned and walked out of the room. After a few seconds Cara stood up and walked over to the cupboard, retrieved the bottle of bourbon and two glasses and placed them on the table next to Santana and Rachel.

"He'll be in the training room." She said, picking up the two kit bags and walking out the other door.

Santana stayed where she was for a moment, staring at the floor, hands on her hips. Rachel just watched her, knowing she had to let her work through it in her own time. Finally she turned and walked over to the chair, sitting back down in it wearily, head falling back into her hands.

"I don't know what I'm doing, Rach." Santana sighed. "I don't know how to get through this."

Rachel stepped up behind her and ran her hands over her back. She was so tense her body was practically vibrating. Gently she touched the bullet wound on her shoulder, her heart clenching slightly as she thought about where that bullet ended up.

After a few minutes Santana took a deep breath. "I did something really stupid last night. When I left here I was so mad and so...well, I didn't even think about where I was headed. And I lost it. You know? I just jumped off the bike and...well, I just wanted it to be over. You know? So when I looked around I noticed I was by the compound."

Rachel's breath caught in her throat and her hand stopped.

"I rode right past it. I just didn't care anymore. Didn't care if she saw. I think a part of me wanted her to see. A part of me wants her to find me. I just want it to stop. I...I don't want to be scared any more."

Rachel leaned forward and wrapped her arms around her, kissing her jaw lightly before resting her chin on her shoulder.

"I fucked up, Rach." Santana said quietly, running the back of her hand over her cheeks. "I don't know what to do."

"You're doing it, baby." Rachel whispered in her ear. "You're acknowledging it."

Santana chuckled softly. "Great. I feel so much better." She squeezed Rachel's hand and stood up. She picked up the bottle and poured two glasses, holding one out to Rachel. "I have to go make things right. Wait up for me?"

"Always." Rachel smiled at her, clinking their glasses and knocking back her drink.

Santana raised her eyebrow and smiled back. "Wow, Berry. Down in one. Pretty badass."

* * *

Rachel paused outside Mike and Tina's old room. She pushed the door open and walked in slowly. It was crazy, she knew, but she missed them already. They hadn't even been gone two days but it felt longer, probably because she might never see them again. A small part of her still clung to the hope that they would come back, that they would persuade the others to help, but the realistic part of her knew that that was not going to happen.

When Santana had told them that she intended to go after Sue their reactions had varied dramatically. Obviously Cara had immediately started packing her stuff. Rachel knew very little about the two Cheerios shared past but it was obvious that Cara would literally follow Santana into hell without a second thought. Puck had just nodded and then got into a huge fight with Jake when he made to follow them. Rachel could understand his need to keep his brother out of harm's way, given the lucky escape he had had the last time. But, no Jake meant no Ryder so that put them down two. Mike always had Puck's back, and Tina would go where Mike went, so they stood with Santana to survey the rest of the group.

Blaine was still not talking and barely looked up during the entire conversation. Sam kept looking over at him then finally glanced up to Santana and shrugged apologetically. Sugar looked up at them like they were crazy, and maybe they were, so again Rachel couldn't blame her. The only reaction that she didn't expect was Mercedes. She was looking at them with an expression of such sorrow that Rachel wanted to cry. She had walked over to her and Santana and hugged them both.

"I know why you have to do this." She had said to Santana slowly shaking her head. "I just wish there was another way. I can't go with you."

Santana had nodded and hugged her back, then turned and walked away. Two hours later they had left.

Rachel sat down on Mike and Tina's bed and let out a shaky breath. She missed her friends. She was scared. They were standing on a precipice and she could feel Santana moving closer and closer to the edge, she just didn't know how much longer she could keep pulling her back. The fact that Santana had finally opened up to her a tiny amount had given her a boost but she knew it wouldn't take much for her to close back down again, and she could only hope that she and Puck would be able to talk to each other finally.

Running her hands through her hair she pulled herself together and walked back out of the room. She had to keep herself strong. She had to be there for Santana. She felt like tonight would be the night that she finally be able to talk to her about what had happened in that basement. She needed to be ready.

Rachel put her hand on the door to their room and her skin prickled. She felt hot and hyper aware. As the door shut behind her she sucked in a sharp breath and tensed, taking in the sight before her.

"Hello Rachel."


	8. Chapter 8

Puck was laying into the punch bag something fierce when she walked in. She watched him for a couple of minutes before pulling on some pads and walking over to him. She took up the position next to him and waited. After throwing a few more punches Puck cut his eyes at her.

"The fuck're you doing?" He said, breathing heavily.

"You were right before. It'll be difficult to replace if you break it."

"Right," He laughed, steadying the bag. "So you'd rather I break you?"

"I'd like to see you try." Santana laughed back.

Puck curled his lip at her and jabbed out a punch.

"That all you got?" She smiled at him. "Come on, Puck, I know you got more in your guns than that."

Puck advanced on her, jabbing left and right as she danced around him. Each punch was harder than the last and, after she dodged him and caused him to lose his footing, he came at her with full force, each blow knocking her back and shooting pain up her arms. She stumbled back, ending up pressed against the wall, teeth gritted and arms close to giving in, desperate to hold on til his rage burned itself out. She deserved this. She knew she did. Part of her wanted to just drop the pads and let him hit her but she knew that he wouldn't, much as he probably wanted to. His eyes burned into hers as he stood there, pummelling her into the wall, everything they couldn't say to each other communicated in this physical exchange. Just as she thought she couldn't take any more he stopped and leaned heavily against the wall next to her, chest heaving as he tried to get his breath back.

"You're fucking stupid, you know that?" He panted.

"I know." She replied, finally allowing her arms to drop.

"I've always got your back."

"I know."

"I would do anything for you." He wiped the sweat off his brow and pushed away from the wall, heading across the floor. "I fucking love you, Lopez."

"Puck," She called after him. "Where are you going?"

He stopped and looked back at her. "To get the tequila, you idiot. Come on."

Santana laughed softly and walked over to him, pulling the pads off as she went, relief washing through her. "I fucking love you too, asshole." She smiled up at him, grabbing his waist. He put his arm easily round her shoulders and kissed the top of her head.

"Well start acting like it, dick."

She rolled her eyes and hugged up into him as they walked over to the lockers at the side of the room. He pulled one of them open and grabbed a bottle out of it before sliding down and sitting on the floor, his back against them. Santana sat down next to him and took a swig out of the bottle when he held it up to her.

"You remember that time we all went down to that lake after the game?" Puck asked.

She frowned slightly, casting her mind back. "Oh, you mean that game where you nearly broke that guys arm?"

"That guy was an ass." He snorted, grabbing the bottle back and taking a drink. "If you're going try and trash talk, prepare to get trashed."

She laughed. "Like you weren't just as bad."

"Please, I was the king of trash talk." He smiled and handed her the bottle. "Anyway, we all went down to the lake and you and Britt sort of disappeared, as usual, and Finn and Quinn got into this huge fight."

Santana nodded, the memory washing over her. Finn always got in a pissy mood when they lost a game and Quinn...well, Quinn just seemed to enjoy winding him up. Part of her wondered if it was just because she didn't know how it felt to lose, it wasn't something the Cheerios had much experience with, but part of her knew it was because Quinn expected more from him, knew he could be better. She took another drink and waited for Puck to continue.

"I was so mad at you." He smiled and shook his head. "I was so pissed about that game, about everything that was going on, and I just wanted you to be there for me. I knew our relationship was...well, I knew, even though I didn't really know why, that I was never as important to you as she was, I just thought that maybe, just that one night, you would see that I needed you and…"

She smiled up at him sadly and held out the bottle. He laughed as he took it, letting out a sigh before taking a big drink.

"Well, you didn't, obviously, and I just sat by the lake, hating everybody and everything, and then she came and sat next to me. It was the first time we ever really talked, you know?" He shook his head and took another drink before handing her back the bottle. "We just sat there for hours, talking and laughing and bitching, and she was so funny and smart and sweet. And then she kissed me and that was it. I had always thought she was hot, you know, but I just figured she was this uptight, stuck up rich kid, you know? I didn't know her til that night. And afterwards… I've never felt that way about anyone."

Santana nodded again. She didn't know what to say. She and Puck had known each other since they were thirteen. They were so similar in so many ways, they just got each other. Seperately they made questionable decisions, together they were downright bad. She had so many firsts with Puck, first cigarette, first drink, shoplifting, sex...it was just easy and fun. But when Britt came along, she knew that she was different. And that night at the lake had been a turning point for her too. The two of them had fooled around before, mainly just making out in front of guys and a few drunken fumbles at cheer camp, but that night at the lake was the first time they had sex. She had felt it building all day, the air between them had just seemed to hum with electricity. Quinn had kept giving them weird looks and snapping at Santana to concentrate during their routine. And when Brittany had gone down on her and made her come for the first time she genuinely thought she would die, and she knew she hadn't missed a thing. And although it would be nearly two years before she admitted it, she fell in love with Brittany that night, just as it seemed Puck had fallen in love with Quinn.

"You know, I always thought that one day I would get her, one day she would let me in. Even after Beth was born and I blew it, even after she became head bitch of Lima, even after Devon…" Puck took another quick drink, shaking his head quickly. "When I left I was so scared. I couldn't believe what you guys...that Sue had so much...just, how could you do that?"

"Puck…"

He held his hand out to stop her. "It's just, before that it was fun. It was like we were in some sort of movie or something, you know? Sure, sometimes it felt like...I don't know, I had a bad feeling sometimes, and some of the girls would take things too far, but...fuck, the look on her face. It's like I have that image burned into my head and I can't get it out."

Santana nodded, her eyes on the floor. She knew exactly what he was talking about. The fear in her eyes, the blood running over her body, the pitiful cries to anyone who would listen, the look of horror and resignation when Britt finally stepped in front of her.

"But when I found out about you, I started to hope again, you know?" Puck stood up unsteadily and started to pace. "I thought maybe if you were just playing along, trying to fix things, maybe she was too. Maybe there was still a chance that I could save her, maybe I could get her back. But then…"

"Finn."

Puck nodded, leaning against the lockers. "Finn."

Santana stood up slowly and pulled him into a hug. "I thought I could save them too. I really tried."

"I know you did." He whispered, hugging her back. "I'm the one who had to save your ass cos you never know when to stop, remember?"

She chuckled sadly and they stood there, locked in an embrace and memories of their lost loves.

"I'm so sorry." She said into his chest. "All this time I have been so wrapped up in my own shit that I didn't even stop to think that you were going through the exact same thing."

Puck sniffed and patted her on the back, effectively telling her to let go. "It's alright, you'll just have to lend me your girl some time."

Santana laughed loudly and punched him in the arm. "Dream on, Puckerman. Don't think I won't do extremely bad things to you if you touch Rachel, especially since that would now involve you cheating on Cara."

An extremely cute and dorky smile spread across Puck's face and he shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Whatever."

Santana laughed at him and picked the bottle up off the floor. "Speaking of whom, I guess I should go apologise to her as well."

"Woah, who are you and what have you done with Santana?"

"Shut up, I know when to apologise." She shrugged. "I'm just normally right, so I don't have to."

"Yeah, right." He laughed, following her out. "So, are you and Rach okay?"

"Not really. I've got some work to do." She sighed and looked down the corridor towards their room. "But she said she'll wait up for me so…"

"Yeah, I bet." Puck laughed, earning him a glare and another shove. "You'll be fine. She's so in love with your sorry ass it's sickening."

"Yeah," Santana said distractedly, her eyes drifting back to their room. She had a strange feeling.

"Ha! Don't even act like the feelings aren't mutual." Puck grinned at her from halfway across the kitchen. "I've never seen you so whipped."

"Fuck off, Puckerman." Santana spat at him, finally advancing across the kitchen towards him, leaving their room behind. "You should see your dopey face whenever Cara is around."

"Shut up." He growled, shoving her towards the garage.


	9. Chapter 9

Rachel spun round and grabbed for the door handle.

"Rachel, wait, please!"

She stopped, her brain desperately telling her to get out but something in the girl's voice held her in position.

"I know that you have no reason to trust me…"

"Oh, you think?" Rachel snapped, whipping round to face the other girl, her anger suddenly overriding her fear. "You almost got me killed, Marley."

"I know," She said, shaking her head and dropping her eyes to the floor. "And there is nothing that I can do or say that will ever make up for that, I just want to try and stop it from happening again, so please, give me five minutes?"

Rachel folded her arms and stared over at her. She considered her options. The most sensible thing to do would be to drag Marley down the hall to Santana and have this conversation between the three of them. But given how on edge Santana was, there was always the possibility that she might just decide to beat Marley senseless instead. She sighed deeply and sat down in the chair.

"You have five minutes."

Marley smiled shakily and nodded. "Thank you. Do you mind if I sit?"

"Yes."

"O-okay…" She shifted uncomfortably where she stood and drew her hands together. "I, uh, I'm not really sure where to start…"

"Four and a half minutes." Rachel sighed, looking at her watch. "Also, I'm bored."

Marley tilted her head to the side and smiled at her. "Wow, she's really rubbing off on you."

"Okay, that's it." Rachel stood up quickly and stomped over to Marley, grabbing her arm and yanking her across the room. "You don't get to talk about her. You don't even know her." She slammed her up against the door and whispered in her ear. "Maybe you'd like to?"

"Rachel, please," Marley tried to push back. "They're going to kill her."

"What are you talking about?" Rachel spat, pushing away from her. "Who is they?"

"Who do you think?" Marley turned to face her and smoothed down her top. "Santana's little stunt the other night really caught Sue's attention. She might as well have stopped in front of the camera and given her the finger."

Rachel turned away and ran her hands through her hair, fear tightening around her heart. If Marley was telling the truth they had to go, they had to get out of Columbus tonight. But what if she wasn't? All she had ever known about the girl had been a lie. Why not this too? She sat down on the bed and gestured for Marley to take the chair.

"Talk fast." She snapped. "Are you still working for her?"

Marley shook her head and dropped into the seat. "She...she lied to me. She told me if I brought you to Quinn she would give me back my mom. When...well, after what happened she…"

Rachel sat and watched impassively as a tear ran down Marley's face. She was shocked to discover that she felt no emotion, no empathy for the girl at all. She briefly wondered if this new lack of feeling for others pain was exclusively reserved for those who had betrayed and almost caused her to be murdered, or if something had fundamentally changed in her.

"Anyway," Marley continued, wiping her face and clearing her throat. "For some reason she just let me go. I wanted her dead so bad, so I went to a guy I know to try and get a gun and he made me see that I would die going in there by myself, and while I was okay with that he brought me into something bigger, something that has a chance."

Rachel snapped her head up. "There are others?"

"Of course there are others." Marley laughed. "Did you think your little Glee club were the only people affected by Sue's actions?"

"Affected." Rachel snorted. "Nice."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound flippant." She held her hands up quickly. "I just meant that you're not the only ones who have...lost people."

"Whatever." Rachel waved dismissively. "How do you know about Santana?"

"We have someone on the inside. They told us that Sue has gone into overdrive since she found out Santana is here and that she is planning something major." Marley locked eyes with Rachel. "We were hoping to use it to our advantage."

Rachel chuckled softly and stood up. Her eyes narrowed dangerously as she approached Marley slowly. "I don't think I heard you properly."

"Look, Rachel, I know…"

The sound of the slap echoed around the room, the force of it sending Marley rocking back in her chair. Her eyes flashed up to meet Rachel's as her hand flew up to her face.

"You," Rachel sneered, leaning down over the younger girl, one hand on either arm of her chair. "Don't. Know. Anything. I trusted you, saved your life! And in return you spied on me, sold Santana out to Quinn, watched me get tortured and, as far as you were aware, killed, before running back to Sue to find out that, surprise, surprise, she had betrayed you too."

"Rachel…"

"Don't." She spat, pushing her face right into Marley's, eyes blazing. "Interrupt me."

Marley flinched back and stayed quiet.

"And now you have the audacity to come here because you want, if I understand you correctly, my help in convincing the woman I love to offer herself as bait so you that and your new friends can launch an attack on Sue Sylvester?"

"No!" Marley's eyes went wide and she shook her head violently. "No, that's not what I am asking at all!"

Rachel raised her eyebrows and took a step back.

"Our idea is based around Sue's...plans for Santana, but it involves you guys joining us. Santana will be completely protected at all times. Sue won't even know where she is."

"And what makes you think Sue knows where she is now?"

"Rachel, how do you think I knew?" Marley paused to let this sink in. "Look, I know you don't trust me…"

Rachel scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"...but I really am trying to help you. Please let me try and make up for my mistakes."

Rachel regarded her coolly. She didn't trust this girl as far as she could kick her, but if she was telling the truth this could be the chance they had been looking for. On the other hand if she was lying then they could be walking into something that could get them all killed. So, no change there, then.

"Tell me this plan." Rachel sighed.

* * *

Rachel steered Marley down the hallway, watching the girl's body tense with every step. She didn't blame her, Rachel wouldn't want to be in her position either. She only hoped Santana didn't actually kill her. She still didn't trust the girl but the plan was a good one, if it was true.

There were voices coming from the kitchen but they were quickly silenced when Rachel and Marley turned the corner. Puck was sitting at the table, his foot, as usual, resting on top of it even though he knew Rachel hated it. His jaw clenched at the sight of them and Cara quickly put a hand on his shoulder to keep him in his seat before snapping her gaze to the centre of the room.

Santana was standing with her back to them, arms crossed, and Rachel saw her shoulders stiffen at their approach. Slowly she turned around, her face neutral as she took in the two of them.

"Damn, girl, that looks painful." She smiled tightly, taking in Marley's bruised cheek. "You should get some ice on that. Rachel. Interesting evening?"

"Extremely." Rachel's grip tightened on Marley's arm as she steered her towards the table and pushed her into a chair. "Marley here has an interesting proposition for us." She moved over to Santana, pleading with her eyes for her to stay calm as she took up position next to her.

"Proposition?" Santana repeated, a dangerous tone in her voice, the muscles in her arms and back flexing against Rachel's hand.

"Yes." Rachel said softly, stroking her back and moving slightly closer. "Please just listen."

She kept her hand on Santana as Marley told them all the plan, her eyes snapping between her, Cara and Puck to try and gauge their reactions. Aside from a sharp intake of breath when Marley them that Sue was aware of her visit, Santana showed no emotion at all. Cara was her usual self, her expression bordering on disinterest and irritation, and Puck just glared for the whole thing, his eyes never leaving Marley's face.

As Marley finished an uncomfortable silence settled across the room. Rachel glanced up at Santana. Her eyebrows were furrowed in that way they got when she was having a realisation that both disgusted and intrigued her.

"Santana," Cara sighed, breaking the silence. "If you want me to take this bitch outside and slap her about a bit I'd be fine with that."

"No." Santana said evenly, taking a step towards Marley and staring down at her. But let me be very clear. I'm going to ask you some questions and you are going to answer them. If at any point you say anything that is even remotely irrelevant, or I think you are lying to me, what happened to me and Rachel in that basement will be something you dream of happening to you. Nod if you understand me."

Marley nodded, gulping slightly.

"Good." Santana nodded slightly, her arms still folded tightly across herself. "First question. How do they know where I am?"

"Some guy told her."

"Some guy?" Santana said, menacingly. She glanced up at Cara. "Kind of feels like a lie, don't you think?"

"Little bit." Cara nodded, sitting on the table and leaning over towards Marley.

"It's not, honestly!" Marley replied quickly, voice uncomfortably high. "I don't know his name because our source didn't tell us but I know he went to Sue and said that you had been to see him this week looking for something."

Santana glanced over at Rachel. Sebastian. Rachel narrowed her eyes and nodded.

"Okay. Second question." Santana walked back over to Rachel, her back to Marley. "Who's your contact?"

Marley dropped her gaze to her lap. "I don't know. They don't trust me with that information yet."

Santana let out a short laugh. "Shocker." She turned back round to face her. "So why did they send you to us if they don't trust you?"

"Because I told them what I did to you." Marley straightened her shoulders and chanced a glance at Santana for the first time. "And they figured if you didn't kill me you would be onboard."

"Well," She barked out a laugh this time. "I think they could be right about that. Jury's still out though."

Rachel watched her girlfriend pace back and forth across the room, studying her expressions and trying to work out what was going on there. It seemed like she had already made her decision, she was just looking for any reason not to take it. Suddenly she locked eyes with Rachel and gave her a look. It was a look that asked if they were on the same page, if they should trust this girl or not. Rachel gave a barely perceptible nod and tried to convey through her eyes everything she felt. They had no choice. If Marley was lying then whoever she was actually working for knew where they were and would be here soon anyway. If she was telling the truth then they actually had a shot at Sue. Either way, Rachel would follow Santana wherever she chose to go. Santana smiled softly at her and turned back to Marley.

"Final question." Santana stood directly in front of her, her face set, her feet planted firmly and her arms crossed. "Are you still working for Sue?"

The room seemed to take a collective breath. Marley paused and raised her eyes to Santana's. "No."

Rachel kept her eyes on Santana. Santana's eyes remained on Marley. Cara shifted her gaze from Marley to Rachel before settling on Santana. Puck was still glaring at Marley, jaw clenching.

Santana narrowed her eyes at her. "Why don't I believe you?"

"Because you have every reason not to." Marley dropped her eyes again. "I honestly don't expect you to believe me, I just want to make things right." She flicked her gaze to Rachel. "Please just let me make it right."


	10. Chapter 10

"Are you okay?"

Santana stopped packing as Rachel's arms wrapped around her. She straightened up and leaned back into her hug, turning to kiss her as she leaned her head on her shoulder.

"Not really."

Rachel nodded and hugged tighter.

"Do you think we're doing the right thing?" Santana asked softly, running her hands up and down Rachel's arms.

"I think we don't really have much of a choice." She sighed, pressing a kiss below Santana's ear. "We either go with her or we leave town. We can't stay here anymore. Sebastian must have followed us."

Santana sighed and turned to face her, linking her hands loosely behind her neck. "I'm so sorry. I have been so stupid. If I hadn't gone out there that night..."

"He would have still have told her."

"Yeah, well if I hadn't gone to him in the first place…"

"Santana, we had no choice. This is not your fault."

"But if Marley hadn't come to us, if they had gotten here first…"

"But they didn't."

"But what if they had?" Santana scrunched her face up and shook her head. "Rachel, if anything had happened to you, I…"

Rachel cut her off with a kiss and pressed her hands to the side of her head, forcing her to meet her gaze. "But nothing did happen to me. And nothing will. As long as we stick together, okay? No more running off by yourself, throwing yourself in front of me. I'm stronger than you think, Santana, and so are you. When we stand together Sue Sylvester doesn't stand a chance."

Santana smiled sadly and rested her forehead against Rachel's. "Yeah, I'm sure she's quaking in her sneakers."

"Well how could she not be?" She smiled, looking up into her eyes. "I bet she never in her wildest dreams pictured the two of us together."

"Wanky." Santana whispered, grinning wickedly.

"Santana Lopez!" Rachel shrieked, swatting her lightly on the arm. "You know that's know what I meant!"

"Well I don't know," She grinned, dropping her hands to grab the shorter girl's ass. "Your mind seems to have dropped a few stories in the last few months." She pulled her into a kiss, moving from her lips and up her jawline before whispering into her ear. "I wouldn't put it past you to suggest putting on a sex show to distract her…"

"Hmm," Rachel grinned, wrapping her arms around Santana's neck and pressing up against her. "Well, it would be unexpected…"

"Rachel Berry, you are filthy…" She laughed lowly against her neck, squeezing her ass before running her hands up her back and pulling her into a hug. "Come on, we need to get going."

Rachel stopped her from pulling away and kissed her passionately. Santana felt the fire start to burn in the pit of her stomach and groaned in frustration as Rachel moved away.

"Not fair." She muttered, turning back to her bag and stuffing things into it.

"Aw, baby," Rachel smirked. "Don't sulk, it's not very attractive."

Santana opened her mouth to reply but ending up shouting in surprise when Rachel slapped her ass soundly and walked off. She turned round and gawped at the door in surprise as her girlfriend strolled through it, laughing dirtily.

"Dios mio, I've created a monster." She muttered, turning back to her bag.

* * *

Santana slung her bags in the back of the truck and walked back into the building that had been their home for the past 6 months for the last time. It wasn't much, really, some little abandoned backstreet gym that she had stumbled across one night when she was drunk and lost (not that she had ever admitted that to Rachel), but it had kept them safe. Until she had fucked it all up with her reckless downward spiral of self loathing.

She shook her head and grabbed her jacket and helmet. Fucking Sebastian. She couldn't believe that she had even dared to hope that he would help them. She pulled her jacket on and pulled the door to the kitchen closed, a grin slowly spreading over her face as she turned around to see Rachel leaning suggestively on her bike.

"Ready to go baby?"

"Always," Santana smirked, making her way across the room and running her hands up Rachel's body. She smiled and grabbed hold of her jacket, pulling her in close.

"Ahem."

The two of them snapped their heads towards the door, just in time to see Cara roll her eyes and gesture towards the truck.

"I guess that means they're waiting for us." Santana sighed, pulling her helmet on and jumping onto the bike.

She started the engine and peeled out of the garage, pulling up alongside the cab of the truck and pushing up her visor.

"You sure about this?" Puck asked from behind the wheel.

"Don't see that we have another choice." She shrugged. "We just need to keep our eyes open. We stick together, okay? No matter what happens."

Puck nodded and pulled into the road. Santana flipped her visor back down and took off after them, smiling at the feel of Rachel's arms tightening around her waist. As fucked as this situation was she couldn't help but feel better than she had done in a long time. Sure, they could all be riding to their death, but she had Rachel and her two best friends with her and Rachel was right, together they were strong. Assuming, of course, her best friends turning psychotic wasn't going to become a theme in her life.

She was beginning to get a little alarmed by the direction Marley was taking them. It was almost the exact route that she had gone the other night and Santana didn't like it one bit. She accelerated so she was once again alongside the cab of the truck and gestured for Puck to pull over.

"I just thought that this would be a good time to remind our little friend here that if she is leading us into a trap I will put my hand down her throat, rip her lungs out and beat her to death with them. Comprende?"

Marley's eyes went comically wide and she nodded wordlessly.

"Now, I have noticed that we are heading towards the airport. Do you know what is just past the airport, Lemur?"

Seemingly making a conscious effort to reign in her eyes Marley nodded again. "We...we don't go that far, though." She mumbled. "It's just about another half mile up here on the right. The industrial park."

Santana studied the road ahead for a moment, then jutted her chin out and nodded sharply. "Then lead on, MacDuff."

Puck started the truck again and took off, Santana and Rachel falling in behind them. She could practically feel Rachel's urge to correct her quotation and laughed to herself when she realised how well they knew each other. Who would have thought that the two of them would have ended up like this? Somehow, of all the things that had happened over the last six years, the fact that she was completely, utterly, head over heels in love with Rachel Berry was still the thing that surprised her the most. Stranger still was that her relationship with Rachel was the only thing that seemed to make sense. She could imagine the look on her high school self's face if she was told that this was what the future had in store. Something like when she found out about Puck and Zizes.

She felt Rachel lay her head against her back and instinctively dropped her hand to rub her arm. This was her life. She would do anything to protect it.

The truck slowed and turned the corner. Santana followed and kept a close eye on her surroundings as they pulled deeper into the park. This was it. The point of no return.

"Here we go." She muttered to herself as the truck pulled to a stop. Rachel's arms tightened around her as she parked the bike. She kicked the stand down and swung her leg off, holding her hand out to Rachel as she looked up at the building. It was big, dark and looked abandoned. As good a place as any for a lynching, she supposed.

"I don't like it." Cara muttered from behind her.

Santana pulled her helmet off and threw it in the back of the truck. "Me either. Eyes open, stick together. Anything even remotely strange happens we punch our way out and don't stop til we get to…" She glanced over Cara's shoulder and saw Marley standing there. "Well, you know where."

Cara nodded and discreetly patted her waistband. Santana gave a tight nod and walked over to Marley.

"Alright." She crossed her arms and looked the girl up and down. "Let's get this over with, shall we?"

Marley nodded and moved towards the building. Santana grabbed her arm and pulled her close.

"Remember what I said, Pippi. If anything happens in there, to any of us, you are the first one that gets dead."

Marley nodded slowly and waited for Santana to release her before she walked over to a door at the side of the building. Santana followed her, Rachel falling into step beside her, Cara and Puck bringing up the rear. The door opened and Marley looked back at them before walking in. She glanced at Rachel, who gave her a nod and a small smile before taking her hand.

They walked through the door into a dark corridor. Rachel's hand gripped hers a little tighter and they moved forward slowly, passing doors on the left and right. Marley was a few paces ahead and eventually went to a set of double doors on the left. Rachel stopped suddenly and Santana could feel her hand shaking in her own.

"Rachel?" She turned to face her. She looked terrified and her breathing was fast and uneven. "Rach, what's wrong?"

"This isn't right." Rachel whispered, shaking her head, eyes wide. "This isn't right. We can't go in there."

"Hey, it's okay." She wrapped her arms around Rachel and held her tight. "Ssh, ssh, it's okay."

"Please, let's just leave."

"Okay. We'll go. Just tell me what's wrong?"

"I...it just feels…" Rachel clung to Santana, her breathing starting to calm down. "I feel like I've been here before."

Santana pulled back enough to look into her eyes. "When?"

"I...it doesn't matter. It's just that I have a really bad feeling and I…" Rachel's whole body went rigid.

"Hello Rachel."

Rachel was staring over her shoulder. Santana didn't need to turn around to know who that voice belonged to.

"You have got to be kidding me."


	11. Chapter 11

Rachel's mouth was dry and her heart was racing. The only similarities between this place and the one in her dreams, really, were the dark doors leading off either side of the corridor. There were no lockers, no mist, no snatches of music, but she had felt strange the minute they had walked in, like walking into a memory.

And now the memory was walking towards her.

"Hello Rachel." His too confident voice rolled down the corridor towards her.

"You have got to be kidding me." Santana practically growled in front of her, her shoulders dropping. Rachel could feel her eyes on her. She swallowed thickly.

"Jesse." She said weakly.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Santana yelled, spinning around to face him. "Is this really happening right now?"

"Hello Santana." Jesse smiled at her smugly. "How wonderful to see you again."

"Bullshit." Santana scoffed. "What the fuck are we doing here?"

"Oh, I'm sorry." He smiled again, his eyes narrowing, hands clasped in front of him. "I assumed Marley had explained everything to you? Why else would you have come?"

"We came because that little bitch told us that we were in danger and that there were people here who could help us."

"So...oh, of course." Jesse folded his arms and stroked his chin. "I can see how that would be confusing for you, you never were the brightest bulb on the stage."

Santana's body tensed, her hands clenching into fists at her side, then she relaxed and let out a tired, sad laugh. "You know what? My mistake. It was stupid to think that there was ever a chance that I would be that lucky." She turned on her heel and started walking back to the door. "Come on guys, let's get out of here."

"Santana…" Rachel reached out and put her hand on her arm as she passed. "Wait. Can't we just hear him out?"

"What for?" Santana gave her a look of such disgust that Rachel drew back her hand. "Why would you, of all people, trust a single word that comes out of this guy's mouth?"

Rachel wrapped her arms around herself and squared her shoulders. She didn't know where her anger was coming from. "People change. You, of all people, should know that."

Santana narrowed her eyes and went to speak, then seemed to think better of it. Her mouth set in a tight line as she turned and walked away.

"Santana." A new voice called from the door. Rachel's heart clenched. She couldn't bring herself to turn around. This was all too much.

Santana stopped dead in the hall, her body tensed again. She didn't turn around either.

"If you walk out that door they will find you. I know it's difficult for you to trust people, God knows I wouldn't if I had been through what you have been through, but please try. I let you down once before when you needed my help. This time I'll do better." The voice moved closer to Rachel, a voice she remembered all too clearly, one that raised a multitude of emotions within her. A voice that had still not acknowledged her presence.

As the woman walked past her Rachel took in a sharp breath. Her mother's face was almost unrecognisable. Her right side was completely covered with scar tissue, her ear shrivelled away and her eye covered with a patch. She reached out and touched Rachel's arm gently, her face still turned to Santana.

"Marley told you the plan and I know you think it's solid or you wouldn't be here. So please, come back in and we'll talk about it."

Santana's shoulders dropped and she turned slowly. She looked at the woman in front of her, her face betraying no emotion, then over to Puck and Cara, eyebrow raised questioningly. Rachel followed her gaze. Puck looked like he had just seen a ghost and offered no response. Cara just shrugged and moved her hand to her belt.

"Jesus, Shelby," Santana muttered, shifting her gaze back to the older woman. "You look like shit."

* * *

After Shelby took Santana into the room Jesse turned back to Rachel.

"Come on, I'll give you the tour." He smiled. "You guys want to grab your stuff?"

Cara glared at him but was cut off from whatever she was about to say by Puck grabbing her arm and dragging her out.

"Alone at last." Jesse grinned, throwing his arm around her shoulder and leading her further down the corridor. "So, that was Shelby's office. It also doubles as her room most of the time as she can't really walk that far since...well, I guess she will probably want to tell you about that."

Rachel looked up at him just in time to see the flicker of sadness cross his face.

"This is the dining hall. We have a fairly decent supply chain set up so there's always food." He grimaced a little. "It's not great food, but it does the job."

"How long have you been here?" Rachel asked, finally finding her voice.

"In this building? About a year." Jesse walked them over to the fridge and took out a couple of bottles of water. "I've been in Columbus since just after I last saw you. I decided it would be better to operate the business from here, you know?"

"And Shelby?"

"She, ah, she moved out here about a year later. Just after she left Lima." He took a sip of his water and stared off thoughtfully. "We used to meet up quite a bit. You know, before all of this. Thankfully we had arranged to meet the day they...well, I found her and managed to get her help."

"What happened to her?" Rachel asked him.

"It's not my place to say, Rachel." He shook his head and grabbed hold of her hand, leading her out through a different door and down another corridor with numerous doors off either side. "So, these are the bedrooms. Yours will be down the far end, as our newest recruits."

"How many of you are there?"

"Around fifty at the moment, in this cell at least."

Rachel's head reeled at this information. "Fifty? Cell?"

Jesse chuckled and threw his arm around her again. "Of course. You didn't really think you were the only ones who don't like what Sue Sylvester has done to this country, did you?"

"Well, no, but no one seems to be doing anything about it."

"Oh, I can assure you that they are." He smiled at her as they stopped outside a door. "There are still those that believe this can all be fixed with democracy and are still trying to go down those routes, then you have others who believe that more drastic measures are needed. This is you."

He pushed the door open and walked in.

"And where are you?"

"I'm just down the hall." He replied quietly, shooting her a grin.

"Oh, no," Rachel said quickly, blushing furiously. "I meant on the scale?"

"Oh." Jesse cleared his throat and straightened up quickly. "Well, we're somewhere in the middle I guess. So, your room. It's not much but it's safe."

Rachel glanced around and took in the sparse decoration. One very important feature stuck out. "It's a single."

"Yeah, sorry." Jesse laughed. "We don't really have a great line in double beds. You'll just have to lie still."

"No, sorry, I just meant...well, Santana…"

"Oh." He looked slightly confused. "Her room is right next door."

"Oh."

"What?"

"I, uh, I just thought you knew." Rachel looked at her feet. She could feel the heat in her face and didn't really know why it was there. "Santana is, uh, well she and I are…"

Jesse leaned against the door and folded his arms. He raised his eyebrows expectantly. He was really going to make her say it.

"We're together."

"Oh." He said, his face impassive. "Well okay then. I'm sorry but that doesn't change the fact that all we have are singles. I guess you'll just have to, uh, make it work."

Rachel nodded and looked around the room. Jesse stayed where he was and she could feel his eyes on her. Why did she feel like this? She had never been embarrassed about what she had with Santana, not even when her friends had found out the way they had. Guilty for lying to them, sure. Embarrassed? Not at all. So why now?

"Well, I, uh, I guess I'll leave you to get settled in then." He said after clearing his throat. "Breakfast is at 8 but if you haven't eaten yet there are some leftovers in the dining hall. I'll see you tomorrow, Rachel. Sleep well."

"Thanks." She said, willing her tone to be normal. She felt awful. Why did she feel awful? She watched the door close behind him and didn't know whether to follow him out or wait til he was gone. She had no idea why she was suddenly in such a state. There was a lot going on, certainly, she wasn't about to say otherwise, but why was it making her doubt herself?

Why was he making her doubt herself?

Rachel sat down on the bed. She didn't want to think about this at all. It was ridiculous. She was in love with Santana. Jesse was...well, he was from the past, and he had not treated her well. Although when they had been together he had treated her extremely well, now that she thought about it, and afterwards he had tried to win her back but...Really the only thing she could think of that had been bad was the whole egg incident.

Why was she even thinking about this? She loved Santana. That was why they were here. And regardless of how closed off and reckless Santana had been recently, Rachel knew that she loved her back. She would do anything for her, she knew that. Right? Except be open with her.

Okay, stop it.

Rachel dropped back onto the bed with a loud sigh. This was really not what she should be focussing her energy on.

She should be focussing her energy on getting them all safe, not having a personal crisis.

And really, where was this coming from? She had known Santana long enough to understand how her coping mechanisms worked. With everything that had happened to her, to both of them, over the last few years and particularly the events of six months ago, it was completely understandable that her girlfriend would be having difficulty. Rachel was struggling herself, and her ability to process had always been much better than Santana's.

It's just that this time she felt so alone.

The two people she usually confided in were dead. Even though she had never told Kurt and Finn about Santana, they were still her sounding board for every other issue she was having, and even when she was initially scared and confused as to what was happening with Santana she had had Puck to turn to. But after his betrayal of her confidence in the choir room that day she was having a little difficulty trusting him completely. She knew it was stupid, he had put himself in danger repeatedly to try and atone for his outburst, but there was something within her that held her back and she didn't know what it was.

She sighed again and made herself get up. She needed to get back to Santana and Shelby. She had let them have their little bonding moment but she would be damned if she would let her girlfriend and her mother plan their attack without her. She was Rachel Berry. Planning was her forte and she was tired of being treated like a delicate little flower that needed to be protected.

She squared her shoulders and pulled the door open, quickly checking the corridor for any sign of Jesse before she made her way back to Shelby's office. She knocked on the door and entered without waiting for a response. Santana and Shelby looked up from their plans, surprised by her sudden entrance.

"What did I miss?"


	12. Chapter 12

Santana sat down heavily on the bed, mind racing to try and take in all the information she had received in the last two hours and process it properly. Now that she knew more about Sue, both in terms of her plan and the layout of her compound, she should feel better, but she didn't. She felt more unsettled than ever. It didn't feel like Sue, somehow.

She sighed and lay back, taking a long pull from the bottle of bourbon that had somehow found it's way into her room.

Her room. No longer their room but hers. The living situation sucked but for now, just in this moment, she found herself grateful for it. She needed space to think and right now she didn't trust herself to discuss things with Rachel.

Rachel.

She was still pissed about Rachel's reaction to Jesse. More specifically her barbed comments about Santana's past behaviour. Not that Santana felt any better about the things she had done, but Rachel had never thrown it back in her face before now, and definitely not in such a public setting. When she had joined them in Shelby's office they had all talked through the situation and come up with a solid plan, Rachel's input making it much more secure than it had been prior to her arrival, but the girl had been distant somehow. She had stayed across the table from Santana during the whole meeting and had seemed to be avoiding her eyes.

Santana didn't get it. She was the one who should be mad, right? Maybe it had to do with her mother. Maybe once she and Shelby had had a chance to talk, bond, sing a duet, whatever, Rachel would knock on her door and they could make up. Maybe.

She just couldn't help but feel that something was off.

She sighed and had another drink.

* * *

Santana cursed as the door handle moved away from her hand, then again as her knee dropped without her telling it to do so. She steadied herself on the door and the wall and focussed on the handle once more. It danced before her eyes and she frowned in annoyance.

"Fucking stay there, fucker." She muttered, glaring at it with one eye. It stopped it's merry dance and she grabbed it quickly, grinning in triumph. "Yeah, you are. Whatever."

She pulled the door open and grunted in frustration when it bounced back shut. She tried again, getting increasingly angry with each passing moment. She realised after a few attempts that she still had her other hand against the door and shot it a look of betrayal until it removed itself and joined the other hand on the handle. Smirking she wrenched the door open and let out a cry of pain as it ricocheted off her knee and slammed shut once more.

"Fuck you, you fucking fuck!" She yelled and lunged at it, both hands connecting with the handle, one of her fingers bending back at an alarming angle in the process. She yanked it open, keeping a tight hold on it, and staggered out into the hallway, slamming into the opposite wall.

"Yeah, that's right!" She cried, pointing back at the offending piece of wood whilst sliding slightly down the new one. "Don't fuck with Santana Lopez of you'll get the fucking bitch fucking smack shit...thing…"

She looked away in disgust and dropped her hand down dismissively, still muttering incoherently. She gazed up the hallway, trying to make sense of what she was seeing. It looked long. Using the wall for guidance she moved slowly towards the light. She could hear voices and closed an eye in an effort to work out what they were saying.

"...thing I ever did right!"

She slid her foot down the floor in front of her, pushing away from the wall and taking a couple of rapid, uneven steps forward.

"...I do that was so wrong?"

Her knee buckled again and she dropped heavily to the floor, hands reaching out to greet it and guide her closer to the voices.

"...a little girl."

Something broke in Santana's mind and sadness washed over her. She could not put the words together to make sense of them but something about the conversation she was overhearing filled her with such a sense of hurt and loss that she started to cry uncontrollably. She rounded the corner and slumped against the wall, silent sobs wracking her body.

"How could they do this?"

"Cos they're fucking asshole fucks and we're going to fucking kill them all." It took her a moment to realise that she was the one who had spoken. She tried to focus on the scene in front of her and found herself staring at Cara, draped over Puck. Did she fall too? Damn this crazy, unsteady building. She went to try and speak but realised she didn't really know what to say, or how. Cara was looking at her with a funny expression and Puck had turned his face away.

Huffing in frustration, Santana pushed away from the wall and crawled over to them. Her face was wet. Why was her face wet? She finally reached her destination and wrapped her arms around his legs, resting her cheek on his knees.

"It's okay. We're gonna fucking do it, Puck." She muttered. "We're gonna fucking kill those fuckers and get her back. 'Kay?"

She heard a sound from above her and tried to work out what it was, but her eyes were so heavy. Everything was so heavy. Fuck her life. Why was everything so fucking hard all the time. She scrunched her face up in annoyance, idly wondering why she couldn't see anything. She didn't really care. She was warm. She felt safe. Her face was wet, she didn't know why, it was very annoying. What was she talking about? Probably not important. Now she was shaking. Her shoulder hurt. Fuck.

"...ana...sus...up!"

Ugh. The shaking and the moving weren't great. She was starting to feel less okay.

"Fuuuccck." She whined. "What the fuck?" Her armpits hurt. This was not okay. God, and her hand. And her knees. And that noise!

Wait, what was that noise? And with the shaking. She really wished she could see. It was difficult to know what was going on when your eyes didn't work. It would probably be important to have eyes soon, but she couldn't really remember why. The noise was very annoying as well. But it was far away so probably not important.

She was definitely moving now. Finally one of her eyes decided to help out and she could see something moving. Why did things keep moving?

"...on...fly smoothing bore me. Maybe, bees."

She felt her feet falling onto something hard and tried to keep them straight. She smelled a familiar scent and something pressing into her hand, which hurt like a bitch.

Rachel, she thought. God, her hand hurt.

"Gay. Someone. Ten fet blue to said."

This whole situation was not making sense and Santana felt like crying. She had a crushing feeling in her chest and stomach and she wished she knew what to do. There was a gate. Or something. No, water, with a gate at the end, and a man. She had to see a man. She didn't really want to, she didn't like going to see men and she just wanted to lie down.

She wanted to sleep, not go and see a man. She should tell Rachel. She would tell her tomorrow. She didn't like him.

She was back at that fucking door. She didn't like this door. But it opened up without a fight and she fell onto her bed with relief. Her eyes closed again and she fell asleep thinking about the water and the gate and the man.

She didn't like him.


	13. Chapter 13

"Hey."

Puck looked up from his beer. "Hey yourself." He tried to smile. "Settled in okay?"

"Yeah, not much to it." Cara shrugged, taking a seat opposite him. "Just got to hope it's secure. They've separated us fairly decisively. Could be a trap?"

"I don't think so." Puck shook his head, eyes dropping. "Not with these people."

Cara leaned back and studied him for a few seconds. "You got a spare?"

Puck looked up at her, nodding when she gestured at his beer. He reached down and pulled one out of his bag. She popped the lid off and took a drink, settling in her seat again before speaking.

"You wanna talk about it?"

"About what?" He furrowed his eyebrows at her in question.

"This." She gestured with her hand. "These people. Her?"

"Not really." He smiled sadly. "It was a long time ago. I was a kid. It was…"

Puck looked around the room as if searching for the words to finish his sentence, then sighed and took another drink.

"It's not about her. It's about what she represents now. How much we've lost. How much they've taken from us." He shook his head and leaned heavily on the table. "About how much they could still take from us."

Cara nodded and took a drink. Slowly she reached across the table and took his hand. "But you know what, Puck? She's still here. We're still here."

"Not all of us." He shook his head again and stared down at his beer. Slowly a tear worked it's way down his face and Cara squeezed his hand gently before pulling away quickly as he ripped it away and slammed it down on the table.

Somewhere down the hall there was another bang but Cara barely noticed as Puck leapt up and flung his beer at the wall. She jumped out of her chair and scooted back as he reached forward and flipped the table over. Braced for further action, her eyes widened in shock as he covered his face with his hands and dropped to the floor, his shoulders shaking with the force of his tears.

Cara gathered her wits and circled around the upturned table, approaching him cautiously before putting a hand gently on his shoulder.

"She was the only thing I ever did right!" He cried. "The one thing that I didn't screw up and now…"

She knelt down behind him and wrapped her other arm around him as he gripped on to her hand.

"I don't understand." Puck whimpered, his free hand wiping uselessly at his face. "What did I do that was so wrong?"

Cara had no idea what to say. This woman had obviously meant a great deal to him in the past and she didn't know how to comfort him.

"I just...I can't...how could they do that?" He gasped. "She's just a little girl."

Cara scrunched her face up in confusion. Little girl? What was he talking about. Suddenly the realisation spread through her body, chilling her to the bone. Little girl. Quinn and Puck had had a daughter. They had given her away. To one of their teachers.

Fuck…

She gripped him tighter and kissed his neck.

"How could they do this?"

"Cos they're fucking asshole fucks and we're going to fucking kill them all." Santana slurred from her slumped position in the corner.

Cara looked over at her, eyes widening in shock as she took in her appearance. She was absolutely trashed, her eyes rolling about in her head, her face streaked with tears, and one of her fingers was...well, it didn't look right. Her hair was wild and her white tank top seemed to have been sharing whatever Santana had been drinking to get herself into this state. Cara really couldn't deal with drunk Santana now, not with what she had just discovered about Puck.

As if on cue Santana started to crawl over to them, arms and legs really not on the same page. She had no idea what to do and just watched in irritation as her friend wrapped her arms around Puck's legs and rested her head on his knees.

"S'ok. We gon pucking do it, Fuck." She slurred into his leg. "We gon fuckin kill those fuckers n get back. 'Kay?"

Puck started crying again at her words, pulling his hand back to cover his face as he did.

"Hey, Puck, ssh. It's okay." Cara whispered gently, kissing him again. "Come on, help me get her up and we'll go and talk about this, okay?"

He shook his head slowly, his whole body shaking. Fuck, what the hell was she supposed to do? Everything was falling apart. And where the hell was Rachel? She could really use her help right about now. Although judging by her meltdown when they had arrived, maybe it was for the best she wasn't here...

"Santana? Santana." She shook her shoulder, gently at first, then slightly harder. "Santana! Come on! Jesus, get up!" Cara shouted angrily. This was really not what she needed. She needed to look after Puck right now and drunk, weeping Santana was not going to help with that. She couldn't leave her lying on the floor though, God knows what she would get up to.

She heard movement behind her and looked up to see that Jesse douche stomp over and hook his hands under her armpits, yanking her friend up off the floor ungraciously.

"Fuuuccck." Santana whined. "What the fuck?"

"Hey, asshole!" She yelled, jumping up to face him. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

"I am getting her out of the common area before she throws up all over herself." He shrugged. "We shouldn't all have to suffer because she can't handle herself."

"Don't you fucking dare say that about her." Cara spat. "You have no idea what she has been through and you should be grateful for that. You would be dead four times over if you had been in her shoes."

"You have no idea who I am, let alone what I have been through, so don't try and intimidate me, little girl." He smirked. "It didn't work when she tried, it sure as hell won't work coming from a little skank like you."

"Oh yeah?" Cara's hand went to her waistband, eyes narrowing dangerously. "You want to test that theory?"

Jesse's eyes followed the movement of her hand, a cocky smile spreading across his face as he dropped Santana unceremoniously on the floor.

"And what have you got there?"

"Just fuck off, okay?" She answered, realising her mistake and dropping her hand. "She's my friend, I'll deal with her."

"Fine." He nodded, folding his arms and setting his stance. "But I still need to know what you have in your pants. Because you know…"

"Jesse." Rachel's voice broke sharply across the room. "Leave her alone."

"I can't, Rachel." He said calmly, eyes never leaving Cara's face. "I'm sorry but she was about to pull a gun on me. I can't have someone in my house who would do that."

"Well maybe she wouldn't have been forced to if you weren't manhandling my girlfriend."

"Manhandling your…" Jesse's eyes flashed and he whipped round to face her. "Jesus Christ, Rachel, I was just trying to get her out of the way! There are people trying to sleep here, good people who are trying to make a difference, people who don't deserve to be woken up at 2am by your band of miscreants raising merry hell in the dining hall! I mean would you look at who you've aligned yourself with? This escapee from the Jane Adams academy…"

"Jesse…" Rachel interrupted, voice dangerously low as Jesse waved his hand disparagingly in Cara's direction.

"Noah Puckerman, the original Lima loser who only escaped because he fell too far for even that shithole…"

"Don't you…" She took a step towards him, flicking her eyes in warning as Cara's hand moved back to her waistband.

"And to top it all, you're fucking Santana fucking Lopez, the biggest slut in town, who went out of her way to make your life a living hell all through high school!"

Rachel sprang at him with such speed he didn't have time to dodge the punch that broke his nose. He dropped to his knees with a wail, tears springing to his eyes, as Rachel stood over him, her fury shaking through her body.

"You don't ever talk about them that way again!" She screamed at him. "These people have been there for me time and again, through high school and beyond! You knew me for a miniscule amount of time, and it might as well have been in a different life for all the resemblance the girl you knew bears to me. So you keep your mouth shut and leave my friends alone or I swear to God I'll shoot you myself."

Rachel turned on her heel and walked over to Santana. She dropped down beside her and rubbed her shoulder gently.

"Santana? Come on, Santana, get up." She tried to lift her but couldn't. "Cara, help me please?"

Cara realised that she had been standing there gawping since Rachel had punched Jesse and quickly moved over to her side, looking over to where Puck was still staring into space as she went.

"Puck?" She called gently. "Puck, I'll be right back, okay?"

He didn't answer, didn't move.

"I'll look after him." Shelby said from the doorway. "I need to talk to him, but I'll wait until you get back."

Cara stared at her. "I don't think that's…"

"He's going to need you, Cara." Rachel said gently. "Please?"

She nodded once, fear running through her. She didn't feel comfortable being there whilst Puck learned the fate of his child, she didn't think he would want her there, but someone had to stop him from taking off and since Santana was...well, like this…

Gently she helped Rachel try and raise her to a standing position and began the slow walk down the hallway.

"Santana?" Rachel said, slightly more aggressively this time. "Come on, try moving for me. Baby, please?"

Finally Santana opened one of her eyes and her legs started to work with them.

"Maygel?" She muttered. "Miand urts."

"Okay, come on." Rachel said gently. "Let's get you to bed."

Finally they managed to get Santana to her room and Cara pushed the door open, holding it with her foot before carefully maneuvering the extremely drunk girl over to the bed. She backed away as Rachel got her settled, gently pushing the hair off her face and kissing her forehead before walking back to meet Cara at the door.

"I'd better stay with her." She whispered. "Are you okay?"

"Me?" Cara frowned. "I'm fine. It seems to be everyone else that's falling apart."

"I know," Rachel nodded. "It definitely feels like we've reached some sort of breaking point. I just meant with everything that's going on, it must be a lot to take in. And Puck...he's going to need you, Cara."

She backed away a bit, shaking her head. "I really don't think I should be there, Rachel. He needs his friends. Why don't I stay with..."

"No." Rachel answered firmly. "He needs you. The two of you are so close these days. I've seen the way he looks at you."

"He looks at me like he wants to fuck me." Cara scoffed, folding her arms. "That's all this is."

Rachel tilted her head and looked at her calmly. "We both know that's not true. I get that you're scared, that this is all new and a lot to take, but he's about to be told what happened to his child. Please do this for him."

Cara clenched her jaw and kept her eyes on the ground. Jesus, what choice did she have? She cared about him, a lot. She was starting to feel like they had something but what it was she didn't know. Why did everything have to be so fucked up? Still, first and foremost he was her friend, and her friend needed her now. She raised her eyes to meet Rachel's, nodded tightly and set off down the hall.

She heard the door close gently behind her as she reached the entrance to the dining hall. Jesse had picked himself up and disappeared, leaving only a few smears of blood behind him. Shelby had somehow managed to get Puck up off the floor and they were both seated at one of the tables. She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders before setting off across the room to take her place by Puck's side. Whatever Shelby had to tell him, it wasn't going to be good.


	14. Chapter 14

Santana woke up on the small, uncomfortable bed in her new quarters, feeling like there were rocks waging war against each other in her head, with her face pressed into a thin pillow soaked in her own drool. She let out a loud groan and wiped at her face with her hand, crying out in pain as her middle finger came into contact with it. She pushed herself up slowly with her other hand, bleary eyes trying to focus on the damaged one and pathetic whimpers escaping from her, seemingly of their own accord.

"No need to ask how you're feeling, then?" Rachel's voice sounded from behind her. She tried to push her hair out of her face as she turned around, failing miserably as it seemed to be angry with her and determined to retain it's unruly appearance for as long as possible.

Rachel was sitting in a chair by the door, her face set in a tight line, arms folded loosely in her lap. So, this didn't look promising. She coughed experimentally, not entirely trusting her vocal chords to play along if she attempted to speak right away, not entirely certain what she would say anyway. She had fucked up. Again. She didn't know how but she was sure of it. She couldn't remember anything about last night, except for the fact that she had been drinking bourbon, and maybe she had had some sort of fight? She vaguely remembered shouting. She swung her legs onto the floor gently and gave up trying to tame her hair.

"Rachel," She rasped. "I'm s…"

"Don't." Rachel cut her off sharply, sounding more tired than anything. "I don't want to hear that you're sorry, Santana." She reached behind her and grabbed a bottle of water off the desk and opening it before handing it over.

Santana took it from her gratefully, her stomach in knots that she was fairly certain had nothing to do with her hangover. Whatever she had done last night must have been bad, even for her, for Rachel to be playing the age old 'I'm not angry, just disappointed' card. Fuck, she really couldn't deal with this right now. Pretty much the only thing she could focus on was the pain in her hand and the alarming purple colour of her finger.

"Thanks." She muttered, raising the now half empty bottle in her girlfriend's direction. At least, she hoped she was still her girlfriend. She dropped her gaze quickly, the look in Rachel's eyes was beginning to scare her. They looked so...empty.

"How's your hand?" Rachel asked after a few moments, her tone still decidedly neutral.

"Just peachy." She laughed lowly, staring at it in disgust. It really didn't look good. Aside from the disturbing colour, the area around her knuckle had swelled up to about three times it's normal size and she felt sick every time she tried to move it.

After a few minutes Rachel sighed and sat back in the chair. "What happened?"

"I got drunk." Santana shrugged. She still couldn't bring herself to look at Rachel.

Another pause. "Why?"

"I don't know." She shrugged again. She certainly wasn't about to own up to her pathetic insecurities about her girlfriend's ex-boyfriend magically reappearing, or how one throwaway comment on her past behaviour on top of that had sent her already fragile grip on herself running for the nearest source of oblivion.

"Come on." Rachel spat.

"I don't know, Rachel," Santana looked up, her fear as usual disguising itself as anger. "I guess I just needed it."

"That's not good enough!"

"What do you want me to say? I'm under a lot of pressure and I needed a break!"

"We're all under a lot of pressure, Santana." Rachel snapped back.

"Yeah, well, last time I checked no one was trying to kill you."

"Oh, really?" She laughed bitterly, leaning forward in the chair. "And when, exactly, was the last time that you checked?"

Shit. Definitely the wrong thing to say. Oh, God. Come on, idiot, fix this! Say something nice. Say anything, fuck!

"Look, can we not do this now? I'm not really feeling at my shiny best."

"Sure." Rachel drawled, leaning back and resting her hands on the arms of the chair. "When do you think you'll be able to fit me in? Tomorrow? A week on tuesday?"

"Rachel…"

"No, it's fine. Honestly. Just let me know when you think you'll be sober enough to have a proper conversation with me." She stood up and moved over to the door.

"I don't think I'll ever be sober enough to have a proper conversation with you." Santana snapped, regretting the words as soon as they left her mouth.

Rachel paused with her hand on the doorknob, her back to her. "Yes, well I think that's probably our problem in a nutshell, isn't it?"

"Rach, please, don't go, I'm…"

The door slammed shut behind her.

"Sorry." Santana fell back against her pillow, her head banging and her stomach in pieces. "God, I'm sorry."

* * *

She woke up to a knock on the door.

"Yeah?" She croaked, pushing herself up and attempting to rub her face. Great, now her eyes hurt as well. Her face was probably all botchy, too. The door swung open and Cara walked in, dumping food and water on the bed before pulling a small splint and some bandage out of her back pocket.

"You look like shit." She said, sitting on the end of the bed and grabbing Santana's injured hand .

"Thanks...ow! Easy!" Santana winced.

"This is probably going to hurt a lot so I suggest less whining, more teeth gritting." Cara said, looking her in the eye and giving her a moment to prepare before flattening her finger against the splint and binding it in place.

Santana grabbed the bed with her other hand and scrunched her face up in pain, laboured breaths forcing their way out of her nose and fresh tears squeezing out of her eyes.

"Fuck." She breathed out shakily once the torture had stopped.

Cara grabbed one of the water bottles and sat back, eyes fixed on Santana as she took a drink.

"Don't look at me like that." Santana muttered, grabbing a jar of something that looked suspiciously like baby food before tossing it back on the bed as her stomach rolled. "I fucked up. I know."

"Yeah, right." Cara chuckled. "You talking about last night or today?"

"I don't know." She sighed, leaning back. "Both?"

Cara nodded and opened a bottle for her. "Do you even remember?"

"No. What did I do?"

"Nothing, really." She shrugged. "You just couldn't walk, could barely speak, didn't make sense when you did."

"That's it?" Santana furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "Then why is Rachel so pissed at me?"

"Did you not hear what I said?"

"Yeah, but if I didn't do anything…"

"Santana," Cara sighed. "You are a fucking idiot."

"Hey!"

"Come on, if you can't see how getting yourself so fucking drunk that you break your own finger having a fight with a fucking door and collapse in the middle of the dining hall is going to cause a problem with your girlfriend then I really don't know what to tell you."

"Yeah, well, I see how that's not great but…" She paused to glare at her friend's disparaging huff. "Look, it's got to be more than that. She's so… it's like she's done with me."

"Don't be an idiot. She wouldn't have done what she did if she was done with you."

"I have no idea what that sentence even means." Santana rubbed at her aching head and took a drink. "God, I was just awful to her today though. Have you seen her?"

Cara nodded, her face neutral.

"And?" She asked, her stomach bunching up again. "Did she say anything?"

"Of course not. You know she wouldn't talk to me about you."

"Yeah." Santana scoffed, her jealousy flaring up again. "She probably went running straight to Jesse."

Cara barked out a laugh. "Shit, you really don't remember last night, do you?"

"I already said that, didn't I?" She growled, face scrunched up in irritation. "Why, what happened? Did the have one of their incredibly dramatic and unnecessarily verbose discussions?"

"Not exactly." The redhead laughed again. "She didn't really say anything, just broke his nose."

Santana almost choked on her water. "What?! Why?"

"Because he insulted you." Cara shrugged, like it was obvious.

Her heart dropped. Shit. Cara was right, she really was an idiot. "Shit. I really fucked this up, didn't I?"

"Well, I would love to offer you some kind of reassurance but I think we both know that's not in my nature so...yeah, I think you really did."

Santana sighed and tried again to regain control of her hair. "I need to go and find her. Do you know where she is?"

"I would guess either her room or the gym but I need to talk to you about something else that happened last night first."

"Okay." Santana had a bad feeling. The look in Cara's eyes was...well, the fact that the girl was showing any kind of emotion was practically unheard of since Devon, so she settled herself and prepared for the worst.

"Shelby came to talk to Puck." She took a deep breath and looked down at her hands. "She...well, she looks the way she does because she was attacked, in her home, by some of Sue's guys. They beat her and poured gasoline on her, telling her they were taking Beth and that if she tried to stop them they would light her up. She tried to stop them. They took Beth and left. Thankfully she had arranged to meet Jesse and he arrived just after. She had managed to put herself out, mostly, as they were leaving, and Jesse was able to get her to the hospital in time but she was in there for months, in recovery for a year. When she got out she tried to find out what had happened."

Santana waited, watching the emotions play across Cara's face. There was more and she could feel the bile rising in her throat, her heart beating wildly in her chest. Eventually Cara looked up at her.

"They took Beth as a way of controlling Quinn, Santana." Cara swallowed thickly. "Quinn wanted out and they took her daughter as leverage."

Santana stared at her blankly for a few moments then leaned over the side of the bed and vomited.


	15. Chapter 15

Rachel's arms and hands were sore and tired but she couldn't seem to stop herself. She was so frustrated and it just felt good to have an outlet. She had never felt this way before in her life and it was beginning to scare her. Everything was falling apart and all she could do to try and hold it together was punch this stupid bag.

She was just so angry. She didn't even know why, just everything and nothing, all the things that had happened and all the things they still had to do, everyone she knew and everyone she didn't, she just wanted to scream and kick and punch.

This wasn't who she was. When had she become this person? How could she get back to the person she was before? Was that even possible? Was being this new person the only way she would be able to survive this world they now found themselves in, a world where a person could attempt to murder a woman and steal her child to make someone do what they wanted?

The thought of Quinn made her blood boil and she began throwing more violent and erratic punches, every impact sending a jolt of pain up her arms and giving her something else to focus on than how blind they had all been. How could Santana not have known what was going on? Why hadn't Quinn confided in her? How had it all gotten so out of control?

Of course, deep down she knew why. Quinn was so proud and so sure, she would never have been able to admit that she was being controlled. And she would never, ever have risked Beth's life. If she had confided in Santana she would have gone after Sue like a shot, and the only likely outcome of that scenario would have been Santana, Quinn and most likely Beth being killed.

Santana. Rachel's punches began to slow at the thought of her. She wondered if she knew yet. When Shelby had told her last night she had left the room immediately with the intention to find Santana and tell her what had happened. She knew it would most likely break her but she needed to know, Rachel had just hoped that she would be able to help her through. But then she had walked into that mess in the dining hall and Jesse had launched into his pig headed, outdated character assassination, and the rage she had been struggling to contain just came pouring out. After she had got Santana into bed she had sat there all night just thinking about everything and her anger had steadily grown, every drunken snore from her passed out girlfriend adding fuel to her fire, and she couldn't stop it. She knew how much Santana was hurting, she understood her need to drown her sorrows, but she was hurting too and she needed her to be there, to be present in their relationship. She needed them to be equals and to help each other through, yet Santana was acting like she was the only one that had suffered and that she had to remain stoic and strong and protect her little girlfriend from all the evil of the world.

Rachel slammed her fist into the bag with a roar and then turned away, sweat dripping down her face. She stood with her hands on her hips and fought to get her breathing under control. She was lost. She knew she was. She needed to find her way back to herself again, and her way back to Santana, before it was too late. She just didn't know how.

She took a step towards the door and started in surprise when she noticed Santana sitting against the wall, her arms hugging her knees into her chest.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, her tone harsher than she had intended.

"I came to find you." Her girlfriend answered in a small voice. "I didn't want to interrupt so I thought I would wait for you to finish."

Rachel took a breath and started towards her. Her eyes were red, her face blotchy and she looked smaller than Rachel had ever seen her. Her heart clenched uncomfortably and she just wanted to grab her, hold her tight and tell her everything would be okay, but something in her just wouldn't let go.

"How long have you been here?"

"A while." She shrugged. "I was going to come over but...well, I was kind of worried you might…"

Rachel looked down at her, eyebrow arched in question.

"Well, hit me." Santana muttered, sounding slightly embarrassed.

Rachel felt something shift in her at the words. It was like something was starting to thaw out, her emotions melting down through her brain and she felt a laugh rise up in her chest, forcing it's way up her throat and out of her mouth. She heard it echo about the room as if it were coming from someone else and she felt just as startled as Santana looked as their eyes met. Her laughter increased at that, bordering on hysteria, and the force of it caused her whole body to shake. She dropped down to her knees in front of her stricken girlfriend and grabbed her hands, pulling her into a hug and holding on for dear life as she struggled to regain control of herself.

"I could never hit you, Santana," She said, kissing her gently as her laughter finally subsided. "Not if my life depended on it."

"Well, God knows I deserve it today." She replied softly, tears running down her face. "I'm so sorry, Rachel. I love you so much and I've been so… I just got so…"

"Ssh," Rachel kissed her again. "It's okay. We'll be okay."

Santana nodded and pulled her in, kissing her deeply, her hands buried in her hair. She felt the anger start to finally release it's grip on her and she sank into the kiss, wanting the world just to disappear and let them have this moment.

"I have been so selfish, Rach, I'm so sorry." Santana whispered, resting her forehead against hers. "I should have talked to you about everything, like you asked, long before now, before I let it get so far out of control. I...I need to tell you what happened to me. All of it."

* * *

Rachel lay in the dark, her arms wrapped around a soundly sleeping Santana. Her mind was reeling with the tale she had told, everything that had happened to her since the Cheerios had taken over Lima. She honestly didn't know how she had managed to come through it all intact, with her sense of self still so strong. The things she had been through…

The worst part of it was that Rachel could tell she was reliving every decision she had made with the fresh knowledge that her best friend was being controlled and she hadn't known. From the timeline they had been given, it seemed that Quinn had attempted to get out at the same time Santana had started to feel things were spiralling out of control, yet both of them were playing their roles so well that neither of them realised the other was feeling the same way. It was heartbreaking to hear the blame she was placing on herself, and to know there was absolutely nothing Rachel could say would assuage that guilt.

Rachel hugged her tightly and kissed her head. Sue Sylvester would pay for this. She would make her pay. If it was the last thing she did she would make her pay.

Santana shifted in her arms and opened her eyes.

"Hey." She smiled sadly and leaned up for a kiss. "How long was I out?"

"Not long." Rachel smiled back. "Go back to sleep."

"I can't." Santana yawned, stretching as she sat up. "We need to go and see Shelby. We don't have much time left."

"We have enough time, baby." Rachel pulled her back down and into a kiss. "Just stay here for a while longer."

Santana sighed and snuggled back into Rachel's body. "I just need to be prepared. My head hasn't been in the game like it should have been. I've let you all down and I…"

"Santana," Rachel silenced her by placing her finger on her lips. "Please stop. Yes, you have made some mistakes, we all have. But we are in this together, all of us. And we have all been so lost these past few months that we have let each other down and nearly driven ourselves apart. So, we are going to take some time and regroup, the two of us first, give Puck and Cara the chance to do the same. We need to work together, the four of us, and come up with a plan that we agree on. Then we can go to Shelby, and Jesse, and all the rest of them, and tell them how they can help us. Okay?"

Santana looked up at her with wide eyes and then broke into a smile. "God, you're hot when you're bossy."

"Only when I'm bossy?" She frowned down at her.

"Especially when you're bossy." Santana whispered, pushing her legs in between Rachel's and sliding her hand up her stomach as she kissed her. Rachel ran her hands through her hair and sighed contentedly. "And when you're beating the shit out of a punchbag."

"Even though you thought I was picturing your face?" Rachel smirked.

"Hmm," She rested her head on her shoulder. "That was less sexy. But I wish I could remember you punching Jesse out."

Rachel groaned and covered her eyes. "God, don't remind me. How am I going to fix that?"

"Well," Santana drawled, kissing along her jaw, sliding her hand under Rachel's top and circling her nipple gently. "Maybe you shouldn't."

Rachel drew in a sharp breath, fire pooling in her stomach. "Baby…"

"Hmm?" She murmured against her throat, her thigh flexing.

Rachel sighed again and slid her thumb along her girlfriend's cheekbone, pulling her face up towards her own. She let the fire burn through her, all thoughts of Jesse forgotten.

* * *

When Rachel woke up she was alone in the bed. She rubbed her eyes and climbed out, reaching blindly for her discarded clothes on the floor. Slowly she made her way out into the corridor and on towards the dining hall. The chatter died away as she entered, the various people seated there turning to look at her with expressions ranging from curious to downright hostile. She spotted Jesse in the centre of the room, his eyes heavily bruised and a large white plaster over his nose. She nodded at him gently, grateful when he nodded back, and continued through the room to the corridor that held Shelby's office.

She knocked and waited for a response before entering. Shelby was alone in the room, sitting behind her desk and rubbing some sort of lotion into her mangled arm.

"Rachel. Hi." She smiled easily and motioned to a chair. "How are you?"

Rachel nodded and sat down. "I was actually looking for Santana. Has she been in?"

"Not since last night." She recapped the bottle and folded her hands in her lap. "Did you talk to Jesse?"

"No." She replied, dropping her eyes in embarrassment. "I...I don't know what to say to him."

Shelby laughed. "You don't need to worry, Jesse knows he did wrong. Jealousy makes us do and say stupid things."

"Jealousy?" Rachel echoed, brows furrowed in confusion.

"Of course." She smiled again. "He still has feelings for you, Rachel. Finding out you were with Santana, well...let's just say he wasn't expecting that."

"And you?"

Shelby waved her hands in a dismissive way and leaned back in her chair. "I had my suspicions but it's not really any of my business now, is it? And it's none of Jesse's either, certainly not to throw in your face during a jealous tantrum. We are on the brink of something here, something important and extremely dangerous, and we can't have these petty disagreements getting in the way. Just make it right. Talk to him. Clear the air."

Rachel nodded and stood up to leave.

"You need us, Rachel, and we need you." Shelby came out from behind the desk and walked over to her. "There's something else going on here, I can feel it. I just don't know what it is yet. But you better believe that we all need to be working together or we won't survive it."

"We're with you, Shelby." Rachel said, quietly. "And we'll make her pay for what she's done to us. All of us."

Shelby nodded, an uncertain look on her face, and pulled Rachel into a hug.


	16. Chapter 16

Santana woke with a start, Quinn's face still floating in front of her eyes. She wiped uselessly at her face and drew in deep, shaky breaths. She looked down at Rachel, relief washing over her at the sight of her face. She looked so peaceful that Santana just wanted to stay there with her forever. She had been terrified when she had walked into the gym earlier, not that Rachel would actually hit her, although she definitely felt she deserved it, but that she would walk away from her again. She had truly believed that she had left it too late, that she had fucked things up beyond repair. But Rachel had just held her close, listened as she told her of the things she had done, the things that had been done to her, offering no judgement, no platitudes, just listened and held her, forgiven her and loved her. She had no idea what she had done to deserve this girl, but she decided not to dwell on it, just count herself lucky and not repeat her mistakes.

She leaned down and kissed her gently before climbing out of the bed and pulling her clothes back on. She knew that no matter how bad she was feeling about Quinn, about how badly she had failed her, it was nothing compared to what Puck must be going through.

The thought of it made her feel sick again. He had loved her. He had hoped he might be able to save her, and then he had been forced to kill her. The same was true of her and Brittany but Britt had not wanted to be saved, she had told Santana as much in the basement. But now they knew that Quinn was being controlled, that she had tried to get out and they had found a way to keep her in position. There was no doubt in Santana's mind that when Puck had shot Quinn she was broken beyond repair, that something was fundamentally changed in her, something there was no coming back from, but she knew that would be little comfort to the man who had pulled the trigger.

With a heavy heart she made her way to his room, knocking gently before pushing the door open. He looked small and tired, sitting in a chair in the corner of the room staring into space.

"Hey." She stated simply, sitting on the edge of the bed. He looked at her impassively, scratching the arm of the chair with his thumbnail. They sat in silence, no words able to convey their thoughts better than that simple look, the air heavy with regret.

"I have to get her back." He whispered eventually. "I have to get her back. For Quinn."

"We will." Santana whispered back. "We'll get her back and we'll end this."

* * *

Rachel, Shelby, Santana and Jesse were gathered around the table going over the plan once more. Santana picked the blueprints up and dragged them over to her.

"So all we really know about this is locked door, a mile and a half of dark tunnel, whatever this crap is here, locked door. Right?" She looked around at the others.

"But the doors won't be locked when we get there." Shelby said again, clearly exasperated.

"Oh, sorry, I forgot. Our secret contact." Santana smiled sarcastically, doing air quotes to emphasise how little faith she had in this person. "Who is it again?"

"You know I can't tell you that, Santana."

"Yeah, which makes me feel so comfortable just putting my life in this person's hands." She scoffed, picking up the plans to study them more closely.

"It might not be such a bad idea to check it out first?" Jesse said to Shelby. "Do a little recon?"

Santana and Rachel looked at him in amazement, then at each other. Santana was just about to question his sudden show of support when the door slammed open and Cara stormed in.

"Puck's gone." She said quickly.

"What?" Santana stormed over to her . "How the fuck did you let that happen?"

"I'm not his fucking babysitter, Lopez." Cara replied angrily, flicking her hair out of her face. "Even I need to sleep sometimes."

"And you couldn't have told me first?"

"Santana, it's not her fault." Rachel said calmly, stepping in between them. "Cara, do you know when he left?"

"No, but I was only out for about twenty minutes."

"Okay, so he's not that far ahead of us." Rachel turned back to Santana. "I suggest we get going?"

Santana nodded and headed to the door.

"Hold on a minute." Shelby stopped them. "You can't be serious? You have no idea where he's gone, what he plans to do, what state of mind he's in."

"So what do you suggest, huh Shelby?" Santana wheeled back around. "Just let him go? Leave him to get himself killed?"

"No, I'm suggesting we stick to the plan. It's the best chance we have ever had to get to Sue and we can't just throw it away because Puck can't control himself. We have to do what's right for everyone."

Santana's blood boiled in her veins. She was so sick of this, all of this, so fucking over her and her friends being used as pawns in other people's games. Everything that had happened to her over the last four years was because of one woman and everything in her was crying out for revenge, but she wasn't about to sacrifice another friend's life to do it.

"Fuck you." She said thickly, breaking the uncomfortable silence in the room. Rachel lifted their bag off the table and walked over to take her hand, pulling her out the door. She barely registered being marched down the hallway she was so angry, and it wasn't until Rachel pulled the door open and the cold night air hit her that she realised she was still holding the plans in her other hand.

"He took the truck." Rachel observed.

"We still have the bike."

"But there's three of us."

Cara stepped up beside them and glanced up and down the street. "If I knew where their garage was that wouldn't be an issue."

"Puckerman, you fucking asshole." Santana muttered, grabbing the bag off Rachel and shoving the plans into it as she checked the rest of the contents. "The other bag was in the back of the truck. All we have left is a rifle, three handguns and a bunch of ammunition."

"Should be enough." Cara shrugged and grabbed the rifle, slinging it over her back. "If we need more than that I'd say we're pretty screwed anyway."

"Fine." Santana tucked one of the guns into the back of her pants and climbed on the bike. "I'll start looking. You guys find a car and meet me…"

"If you say one more word that involves you leaving here by yourself, I swear to God…" Rachel's furious speech was cut short by the sound of an engine coming from behind the building. Nervously Santana broke her gaze away from Rachel's flashing eyes to see Jesse driving round the corner and pulling up in front of Cara.

"Get in." He called through the open window.

"What the hell are you doing, St James?" She called back, despite having never been more pleased to see anyone ever before in her life.

"Trying to stop this from turning into a complete catastrophe." He replied, rolling his eyes. "And as amusing as it would be to see the three of you attempt to stage a rescue using only Santana's bike, I would say this is more practical, don't you agree?"

Santana glanced at Cara who, as usual, only shrugged, albeit with a slight grimace.

"Fine. But I'm still taking my bike."

"And I'm going with her." Rachel said, still glaring at her furiously.

She shrank back a little in the heat of her girlfriend's rage, but still caught Cara's smirk as she climbed into the car.

"I'm sorry." She muttered as Rachel climbed onto the bike.

"Just drive." Rachel muttered back as she wrapped her arms around her waist.

* * *

Santana felt a tap on her shoulder and looked quickly in the direction Rachel was pointing. She took the turning quicker than she would have liked, given that she had a passenger she was rather fond of and neither of them were wearing helmets. She would have to remember to thank Puck for that one when they found him.

She followed the dirt track carefully, hoping that the taillights they had seen in the distance were actually Puck's and not a patrol vehicle. They were about a mile and a half away from Sue's compound, coming at it from the east. If she remembered correctly the spot they had been planning to enter from was also on this side, down the bottom of the hill. Had Shelby showed the plans to Puck as well? Is that where he was headed?

After a few minutes she spotted the truck pulled over on the left and steered over towards it. Before she had even had a chance to cut the engine Rachel was off the back and storming over to where Puck was grabbing things out of the back.

"You stupid, selfish fuck!" She yelled at him, slamming her fists into his chest and shoving him back into the truck. "What the hell do you think you are doing?"

Santana had to force herself to bite back a laugh at the mix of confusion, anger and fear on Puck's face as the tiny brunette pummelled him. She quickly kicked the stand down and jumped off, and not entirely sure whether to rescue him or join in she ended up just standing there watching the surreal scene with a feeling of amusement which seemed entirely at odds with the situation they found themselves in.

"Hey, Berry, easy!" Puck held his arms up as a barrier, trying desperately to slide down the side of the truck and escape. "Lopez, call off your girlfriend, huh?"

"Not my, call, asshole." She smirked. "Rachel does as Rachel wants, and right now it seems she wants to kick the ass of the dickwad who ran off in the middle of the night to get himself killed."

"Alright!" He finally managed to get a few steps clear and held his hands up in submission. "I'm sorry, okay? I'm an asshole."

"Yes you are!" Rachel yelled at him, hands clenched into fists at her side. "Don't you ever do that to us again, Noah, do you hear me?"

"Sure I hear you." He muttered, rubbing at his chest. "I think the whole fucking town heard you."

Rachel huffed at him and stalked back over towards the bike.

"That was kinda hot." Santana whispered as she approached.

"Don't think for a second I'm not still mad at you too." She replied angrily, stalking past her and over to Jesse and Cara as they pulled up behind them.

"Ouch," Puck said to her. "What did you do this time?"

"Shut it, Puckerman. Next time I'll leave your sorry ass." Santana shot him a glare but gestured at him to follow her over to the car where Jesse was spreading the plans out on the hood.

"Okay," He said to Puck as they arrived. "So the plans show that the entrance we were going to use is just down the hill. Presumably you was aware of this and that is how we have ended up here?"

Puck shrugged and then nodded slightly sheepishly.

"Now our rendezvous is not for another two days but I say that whilst we here we at least take a look and see what surprises lie in store for us. Any objections?"

The group stayed silent, only Rachel looking sceptical.

"We're here already, Rachel. Like Santana said, we really don't know that much about what's waiting for us in there. Might as well check it out."

"Alright then." She agreed after a moment. "Noah, get the rest of the weapons from the truck." Rachel ordered, rolling up the plans and shoving them back into the back. "Let's get this over with."

Santana hurried to catch up with her girlfriend as she marched down the hill and reached out to take her hand.

"Rach, look I…"

"I don't want to hear it, Santana." She said quietly, pulling gently out of her grip. "We just went through this last night and you've already broken your promise. We'll talk about it after, okay?"

Santana stared after her in irritation as she stalked off down the hill. She really didn't understand why Rachel was so upset. It wasn't like she had been planning to go off by herself to do something stupid, she just wanted to find her friend for God's sake. Okay, maybe she should have told Rachel to come with her instead of leaving her with Cara but… Okay, maybe she shouldn't have _told_ Rachel to do anything, but she wasn't thinking straight. She was in a hurry.

Okay, maybe she got it a little bit. Shit. Now she was going to have to apologise. Again. It seemed all she did these days was run for her life and apologise to Rachel.

"Dude, I'm really sorry." Puck said quietly, falling into step beside her. "I kind of flipped out and I just couldn't stay there knowing...I just, I guess I wasn't thinking."

"Preaching to the choir, Puckerman." She sighed. "Just don't do it again, okay? I don't think my relationship can handle it. Or yours, for that matter."

He shot a quick glance over at where Cara was striding down the hill in front of Rachel. "Yeah, she's pretty pissed. She's not really saying much."

"Yeah, well that's kind of her thing."

"I know but…" He shoved his hands in his pockets. "I dunno. Feels different. Feels like I blew it."

Santana chuckled. "Tell me about it."

They caught up to where the others had gathered at the bottom of the hill, Santana noticing with annoyance how close Jesse was standing to Rachel and the stupid smirk he was shooting her way.

"Right, so we just need to work out how to get this door open…"

"Open." Cara said, rising from her crouched position as the lock gave with a click.

"Okay then." Rachel said. "Ready?"


	17. Chapter 17

Rachel stayed at the back of the group as they made their way down the tunnel. She wasn't so much angry with Santana as she was frustrated. She still couldn't quite get over the fact that she had been so ready to go off by herself. Again. She just didn't get it. She had really thought that she had finally got through to her this time but apparently not. She just didn't know what more she could do.

She glanced ahead at where Santana and Puck were talking quietly at the front of the procession. She wondered if they were engaged in some sort of debate about who could run off and put themselves in danger next then quickly rolled her eyes, both at her own judgement and that the fact that it would probably come true.

The group was spread out over about twenty feet, Santana and Puck at the front, Jesse some way behind them, and Cara a few feet in front of herself. It had not escaped her notice that Cara and Puck had not spoken since they had caught up to him. Rachel wondered why that was and then realised that six months ago she would probably be trying to draw the girl into conversation to find out. Now, though, she was slightly shocked to discover that she didn't actually care.

Up ahead the two leaders rounded the corner and after a few seconds Rachel heard a splash.

"Puck, hold up a second!" Santana's voice. Rachel hurried towards the corner and quickly took in the scene. The tunnel dropped down here and was filled with water which Puck was now almost waist deep in and moving steadily forward.

"Puck, what are you doing?" She called out to him. The water seemed to be getting deeper the further he went and the middle of the tunnel was dark. She looked up at the ceiling and saw some sort of cable hanging down. Broken lighting track maybe?

"What do you think I'm doing?" Puck stopped and looked back at them. "The door is right over there. What are we waiting for?" He turned back and continued on down the tunnel.

"Might as well check it out. We've come this far." Jesse shrugged at her and jumped down after him.

Rachel peered down the tunnel and could just about make out the shape of a door at the end. Still, she didn't like it.

"I have a bad feeling about this." Santana muttered from beside her. She sighed and tucked her gun back into her belt. Rachel could feel her girlfriend's eyes on her and turned to face her. Her brow was furrowed and her top lip was sticking out a bit, the way it did whenever she got upset. "Rachel, I'm really sorry, okay? It was a stupid thing to do. Please don't be mad at me."

"I'm not mad, not really. It's just you keep saying that you're sorry, Santana." She replied softly, shaking her head. "And then I forgive you. And then you do it again."

"But I…"

"No buts. I'm your partner. We're supposed to work together, get through things together." Rachel folded her arms and stared her down. "You can't keep leaving me behind in some misguided belief that you're helping me. I don't need you to protect me, Santana. I never did."

Santana stepped back as if she had been slapped. Rachel was confused until she realised that she had said almost the exact same words Brittany had said to her in the basement.

"Oh God, Santana, I didn't…"

"Forget it." She smiled sadly. "You're absolutely right. We'll talk about it after." She jumped down into the water and headed after Jesse and Puck.

Rachel sighed and cursed herself.

"Nice work." Cara muttered as she dropped down into the water.

"Fuck off." She replied bitterly, following her in. The redhead shot her a look of equal parts anger, surprise and amusement and started off down the tunnel. Rachel followed her slowly, allowing her body to acclimatise to the cold and stench of the water. She didn't want to think about how long it had been sitting here or what kind of filth was gathered below it's murky surface. She flinched as something grazed her leg, raising her hands up and trying to stifle the squeak that was threatening to spill out of her mouth. "Get a grip, Rachel." She muttered to herself as she tried to see what it was. The movement of their five bodies through the water had broken up the layer of scum that covered the surface and as she peered down through the murk she felt it brush her thigh again. Summoning all her courage she reached down with her hand and wrapped it around the slimy object with a feeling of revulsion. She tried to pull it out of the water but it was heavier than she had anticipated, it seemed to be attached to something. She grabbed it with both hands and managed to lift it to the surface. It was some sort of massive cable and as she tried to lift it higher part of it snagged her hand. "Shit!" She swore in pain, dropping it back into the depths with a small splash.

"What?" Cara stopped and looked over her shoulder.

"Nothing, I just cut my hand on...whatever this is."

"Something in the water? Gross, Berry." She started back towards her and swung her bag round to pull something out. "Here, wash it out and cover it up. I don't even want to think about what's in this water. What did you find anyway?"

"I don't know." Rachel replied in irritation, taking the pack off Cara and starting to treat her wound. "Some sort of cable with bits sticking out."

Cara peered down into the water by Rachel's leg and her eyes widened. "Get out." She said quickly, dragging Rachel back the way they had come. "Guys, get out of the water. Now!" She yelled down the tunnel towards the others.

"What are you doing? What is it?" Rachel grabbed hold of the ledge and pulled herself up.

"It's an electrical cable that's been tampered with." Cara said, looking back down the tunnel to see how the others were doing. Puck had already reached the other end and was already climbing out. Jesse was not far behind him but Santana was still in the middle, looking back at Rachel and Cara with a look of concern.

"What's going on?" She called back.

"Cara, it's just a cable, it doesn't mean…" Rachel's thought was cut off by the lights in the tunnel beginning to flicker and an acrid stench rising up from the muck.

"Santana! Grab the cable!" Cara yelled, gesturing to the broken lighting track just above her head. "Get out of the water now!"

Rachel's eyes widened in fear at the urgency in the girl's voice. Cara never showed any kind of emotion and the fact that she sounded, well, scared had Rachel's heart in her mouth. She jumped to her feet and looked at the others. Puck was holding out his hand to Jesse and Santana just seemed frozen in place. The lights flickered once more and went out completely, the sounds of splashing in the tunnel interspersed with the sound of her blood slamming in her ears. Suddenly the space was ablaze with light and a horrific crackling sound. Rachel heard shouting breaking through the place and realised that some of it was coming from her. There was a huge flash from the far end and she struggled to make sense of what she was seeing. Puck was thrown back against the wall and Jesse seemed to be doing some sort of violent backstroke...Her shouting stopped as she realised what was going on and she sank to her knees in horror. Jesse was still in the water. The cable had been activated.

Rachel's hands came up to her face and tears sprang to her eyes as she watched him die, knowing there was nothing she could do to save him. As his body stilled and the smoke rising from it increased Rachel's hands clenched into fists. She tore her eyes away from him and searched the gloom for her girlfriend.

"Santana!" She called out, jumping to her feet. "Santana, where are you?"

"I'm okay!" Came a choked reply from the darkness. "I'm...I think I can make it to Puck."

"Don't even think about it!" Rachel yelled. "Get over here, we have to go back!"

"Rachel…" Santana's voice sounded quietly from the gloom. "I can't."

Slowly Rachel's eyes adjusted and she saw what was going on. Santana was hanging from the lighting track. The part of it she had climbed up had left a five foot gap and Santana was on the wrong side of it. If the track was secure enough to bear her weight she should be able to use it to get to the ledge Puck was on, but there's no way for her to get back to her and Cara.

"Fuck!" Rachel cried out, pacing back and forth at the entrance to the room. "We have to do something. What can we do?"

"Nothing." Cara muttered. "All we can do is watch and hope she doesn't fall."

Rachel glared at her and turned back to where Santana was slowly making her way across the roof. Thanks to the training regimen her years in the Cheerios had instilled in her she had fantastic upper body strength but the bullet wound in her shoulder had definitely had an impact. Add to that the broken finger and the fact that she had been saved from the water because the part of the track she was currently swinging from had fallen down, and Rachel was officially on edge.

"Come on, baby." She whispered, willing the track and her girlfriend to stay strong. She grasped her hands together in front of her face and sent up a silent prayer. Just as she did so Santana started to cough violently. She was directly above Jesse's smoldering corpse and Rachel could see her try and press her face into her arm to block out the smell and the smoke. Her heart lurched as the coughs shaking Santana's body caused the track to start coming away from the ceiling.

"Suck it up, Lopez!" Cara yelled, charging to the edge of the ledge. "Move!"

She didn't move. She just hung there, shaking, coughing, desperately trying to get away from the smell.

"Santana!" Rachel cried out, willing her voice to remain calm and strong. "You can do this, you're almost there. Please, baby, just keep going!"

Finally she started to move again, swinging forward just as the part of the track she had been clinging to broke away and clattered down behind her and smacked her in the back. She cried out in pain and grabbed for the next section, missing slightly as her body was knocked off course. Dangling from her weaker right hand she wiped at her face and tried again, connecting successfully this time, but the force of it wrenched the track away from the ceiling and it began to fall, Santana with it.

Rachel heard herself cry out again and reached forward uselessly as her girlfriend fell towards the water, her body arching forward with everything she had, desperately trying to make the ledge. Rachel's eyes slammed shut against her will as she waited for the splash.

Instead she heard a shout of pain followed by a string of Spanish curses. Her eyes snapped open again to see Santana gripping her injured hand and scrabbling away from the edge.

"Oh, thank you, God." She whispered, holding her hands up in front of her face. Beside her she heard Cara breath out a sigh of relief and mutter to herself. "Are you okay?" She called out.

"Oh yeah," Santana's sarcastic laugh echoed through the gloom. "Just Peachy."

"How's Puck?" Cara asked nervously. They watched as she crawled over to him and put her hand on his neck.

"He's alive." She called back. "Still out though. Guess I'll have to smack him about a bit til he wakes up."

"NO! He could have a spinal injury, don't…"

"Relax, Rachel, I'm joking." She stood up and moved towards the door. It was solid metal except for a small window about three quarters of the way up. "I think there's a junction box in here. I'm gonna see if I can pick the lock and switch it off. You guys go get some help."

"No way!" Rachel yelled. "How many times do we have to have this conversation, Santana? I'm not leaving you!"

"I'm not asking you to leave me, Rachel!" Santana yelled back, walking back to the ledge to face her. "I'm not trying to be a hero here, I'm asking you for help! Isn't that what you wanted?"

There was a noise from the door behind and Santana whipped back around, gun pointed towards it. With a loud clang the door swung open and a large figure stepped out.

"Karofsky?" They heard her ask as she continued to back away, gun still drawn.

"Santana?" The voice from their past replied. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"What the hell am I doing here? What the hell are you doing here?"

"I work here. Came down to see what all the yelling was."

"You work for Sue?"

"Yeah, since...wait." He took a step back and pulled out his own gun quickly. "You know where you are? What were you trying to do? Get to her?"

"Damn straight I was trying to get to her, and I'm going to keep trying so either help me or get out of my way."

Rachel stepped forward and was about to speak out when a hand was suddenly slapped over her mouth, pulling her backwards.

"Let her handle it." Cara whispered in her ear. "If he knows he's outnumbered he'll panic."

Rachel glared at her and pulled her hand away but stayed quiet.

"And what, you came here to take on Sue's army by yourself?"

"No, not by myself." She snapped back, gesturing at Puck's unconscious form.

"Jesus, is that Puckerman?" Karofsky chuckled. "What happened to him? He trip over his own ego?"

"You're defence system happened to him!" Santana yelled at him, advancing slightly and nodding to Jesse's body in the water. "And he isn't the worst off in case you haven't noticed the smell. Can you at least shut it off so I can get my friend out of the water?"

"Fuck." He swore covering his mouth with his hand and heading back towards the door. "Who is that?"

"Just shut it off, Karofsky, before I shoot you and do it myself." Santana yelled, pulling the slide back on the gun.

As if the action made him realise that he hadn't done the same, Karofsky lowered his weapon and held his hands up. "Alright, alright. Just give me a second." He retreated back through the door giving Santana the chance to shoot a look down the tunnel towards her friends.

Rachel let out a small sigh of relief. Maybe she could talk him round. Maybe she could use their history to her advantage. Even if he just cut the electricity Santana and Puck could get out and they could regroup. There was a clunk from behind the door and the crackling heat that had been rising from the water abruptly stopped. Immediately Sanatan dropped to her knees and reached forward for Jesse's body. She covered her mouth with her hand and Rachel saw her retching as she tried to pull him out of the water.

"Karofsky, give me a hand." She called, struggling to pull the waterlogged corpse up onto the ledge. When no answer came she tried again, turning her face away and wrapping her arms around him. It worked and she stumbled backwards as Jesse's body cleared the ledge. Rachel watched with a bad feeling as she jumped up quickly and pulled her gun out again. "Karofsky?

Slowly he came back through the doorway, hands in the air. As he turned to face Santana Rachel saw the shorter guy behind him, gun pressed into the small of his back.

"So, who's your girlfriend, Karofsky?" The short guy asked. "She's hot. And just when I thought you were gay."

"Fuck you, Tanner." Karofsky muttered. "She's no one. She's lost and tripped our defences."

"And you're helping her because…?"

"Like you said. She's hot."

"Yes she is." Tanner laughed. "Shame she won't be for long." He shoved Karofsky to the side and a shot rang out.

Rachel's heart practically stopped as she waited for Santana to fall, then she wheeled round in shock as she realised the shot had come from beside her. The short guy crumpled to the floor as Karofsky jumped forward, pointing his gun and firing blindly towards them. Rachel barrelled Cara into the wall as Santana started yelling at Karofsky to stop. Suddenly more shots came towards them, more voices joining into the din. Cara leaned back around the wall and returned fire, yelling at Rachel to help. As she pulled back to reload Rachel took her place, relying on the training Santana had given her to try and remain calm as she saw the scene before her. Seven more guards had joined Karofsky on the ledge, two of them restraining Santana and the rest shooting at her and Cara.

"Go!" Santana yelled as she was dragged towards the door. "For God's sake go!"

Rachel felt a hand on her arm trying to drag her away.

"No!" She yelled at Cara, trying to get back into position. "We can't leave her!"

"There's too many of them, Rachel!" She yelled back. "They have her! We have to go now!"

"I won't leave her!"

"You can't help her if you're dead!" Cara pulled on her arm again and she gave up. Cara was right. There were too many of them and they already had Santana through the door. There was nothing she could do. Again.

She followed Cara down the tunnel, rage taking over her limbs as her thoughts raced around her brain. How could this be happening again? At least this time she was awake and all in one piece.

They burst through the tunnel's opening and she sprinted over to Santana's bike, swinging her leg over it when she noticed Santana had left the keys in it.

"Wait, do you even know how to ride this?" Cara asked as she climbed on behind her. Rachel glared over her shoulder and gunned the engine before speeding off up the track.


	18. Chapter 18

Santana woke up on the floor, feeling like there were rocks waging war against each other in her head, with her face pressed into a cold, stone floor. She let out a loud groan and wiped at her face with her hand, crying out in pain as her middle finger came into contact with it. She pushed herself up slowly with her other hand, bleary eyes trying to focus on her surroundings and work out what was going on.

"Lopez." A voice croaked from somewhere behind her. "What the hell happened?"

Gritting her teeth against the pain reverberating throughout her body she turned around slowly. She was in a small cell, brick wall at the back and thick black bars on the other three sides. In an identical cell to her own, joined by the left bank of bars, sat a dazed looking Puck.

"Well, let's see." Santana began slowly, assessing the damage to her body. "You were born, then twenty years later you dragged me into a booby trapped tunnel where you were electrocuted and knocked unconscious, one of our friends burned alive in a pool of stagnant water and I was beaten to a bloody pulp by seven of Sue's henchmen."

She ran her good hand over her swollen lip and was unsurprised when her fingers came back bloody. She could barely see through her left eye and her ribs hurt like hell every time she took a breath. Her legs were bruised but nothing seemed to be broken so all in all, things could be worse.

"Shit." Puck muttered.

"Yeah." She barked out a laugh.

"Jesse?"

Santana looked up at him. The stench of Jesse's body still clung to her and the memory of dragging him out of the water shot back into her head, making her stomach turn. "Yeah." She replied quietly.

"Shit."

"Yeah."

They sat in silence for a few moments, each battling their own demons, before Puck jumped up with a growl and started throwing himself at the door, at the bars, punching at the walls, howling out his rage and frustration as he whirled around the cell. Santana stood up slowly and looked around her cell for anything of use. Finding it to be just as empty as it appeared at first glance she sat down carefully at the rear of the cell, her back against the wall, and waited for Puck to calm down.

"Feel better?" She asked as he finally came to a stop.

"No." He panted. "Plus, I think I broke my fucking hand."

"Good." She spat. "Sit down."

Puck sighed heavily and walked over to sit beside her on the opposite side of the bars.

"Santana, I…"

"Don't." She interrupted. "Just..don't, alright? It's done, and I get it. We just need to figure out what to do now."

Puck looked around as if thorough investigation of the dank, dark space they were currently imprisoned in would somehow offer up a hidden doorway to freedom. Santana rolled her eyes and looked over at him.

"Find the answer, Sherlock?" She scoffed.

"No." He shot back. "Can't you just pick the lock or something?"

"Sure." She shrugged. "I'll just ask Rachel to bring me a few lockpicks hidden in a cake during the next visiting hours."

He laughed slightly. "Get her to bring me a grape slushie too, would you?"

"Genius." She laughed back. "I bet they'd never see that coming."

"Damn right. When they come for us you toss a slushie in their face and I'll kick em in the nuts. We steal their guns and shoot our way out of here, Matrix style."

"A solid plan, Puckerman. It's right up there with 'hit them with a frying pan' and 'duck and cover'."

He looked over at her and the two of them started to laugh uncontrollably, only stopping when the pain in Santana's ribs became too much to bear. As the laughter died away she glanced up at him and saw him looking back sadly.

"I'm really sorry I got you into this, San." He said softly.

"We each got ourselves into this, Puck." She replied, sliding over to the bars and taking his hand with a sigh. "We've both been acting like total assholes for too long to not have this be the outcome. And I gotta say, for my whole life, whenever I pictured myself in a prison cell you were always right there with me."

He laughed again and wiped away a tear with the back of his hand. "You know, you have a point there."

"Just promise me," Santana said quietly after a few moments. "When they come for me, if you get your chance you'll take it and get the hell out of here."

"Fuck no, Lopez," He answered angrily. "I'm not fucking leaving you here."

"Well I'm not saying just leave me if we both have a chance, you halfwit!" She said, punching him lightly on the arm. "I'm saying if there's a distraction after I'm gone you get the hell out. Then, obviously, you get your ass back here with the cavalry and help me take that bitch out."

"Santana…"

"Promise me, Puck. Don't do anything stupid. Anything else, at least."

He opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by the sound of the door clanking open as four enormous looking men with various bits of weaponry came sauntering in.

"Quick, hand me the slushie." Santana muttered.

"They're all out of grape. Guess we go to plan b." Puck muttered back as they both got to their feet.

"I don't think we finalised plan b."

"Dazzle them with our charm?"

Santana shot him a look of disdain and gripped his hand a little tighter.

The four guards walked across the room, right past Santana's door and stopped in front of Puck's.

"Contestant number two, glad you're finally awake." A guy with an enormous beard and questionable oral hygiene said cheerfully as he unlocked the door. "Time for your close up."

"Wait, why are you taking him?" Santana said quickly. "I'm the one she wants."

"Wait your turn, darling." A huge, sweaty guard chuckled, leering at her through the bars. "We'll be back for you. Just make yourself comfortable."

"Fuck you, Jabba." She spat back, anger and fear fighting for position in her brain.

"Sounds like an offer, huh boys?" He drawled, never taking her eyes off her. The other three laughed dirtily as Beardy unlocked Puck's cage. "You know, the noises you were making as I was kicking the shit out of you earlier really got my motor revving. Been hoping for a little alone time with you. Lucky me they asked for him first, huh?"

"Yeah, why don't squeeze your fat ass in here and I'll show you just how lucky?" She snarled back, barely feeling Puck's grip tightening on her arm.

"Ooh, bitch got some teeth." He leered. "I like it."

"Santana!" Puck hissed at her as he pulled her towards him. "Looks like you're going to have to do the rescuing so don't let your mouth get you into this shit, alright?" He wrapped his other arm around her through the bars and kissed the top of her head.

"Alright, asshole, don't make me come in there and get you." Beardy said in a bored tone. "It won't end well for you."

"We're getting out of this Puck." Santana said to him with as much certainty as she could muster. "We're getting out of here and we're going to burn this place to the fucking ground." She hugged him tightly and then he pulled away.

"Fuck yeah." Puck nodded at her, clenching his jaw. "They won't get anything out of me. I'll see you later, alright?"

"I'll bring you a beer." She tried to smile as tears formed in her eyes. "Don't start without me."

"Then don't leave me hanging." He smirked as he walked out of the cell. Beardy shut the door behind him as Puck stood impassively, waiting for the others to cuff him. He shot Santana a cocky glance as the fat guy walked over and then smirked as he kicked him with all his strength straight in the nuts. The guy let out a shrill grunt and dropped to the floor but Puck's victory was short lived as one of the other guards clocked him over the back of the head with a baton. He dropped to his knees, clutching his head as a volley of kicks was sent into his ribcage. Santana yelled out and ran over to the bars, banging at them uselessly with her battered hands as Puck curled into a ball and waited it out, letting out a hollow laugh as they finally stopped.

"I don't think you need to worry about that fat fuck any time soon, Lopez." He groaned out.

"So much for not doing anything stupid." She smiled at him, wiping her tears away as she dropped down level with him. "Asshole."

"You know it."

He grinned back at her as the fat guy got to his feet and kicked him in the face. Santana slammed her eyes shut and slid away from the bars. She took a deep breath and stood up, turning her glare on the fat guard as the other three picked up her now unconscious friend and carried him out, his head lolling at a disturbing angle.

"Hey, fat ass!" She yelled at the guard's retreating form. He turned back to her with a bored, slightly pained look. "I swear to God I am going to kill you for that."

He snickered at her and shuffled off.

"Why don't ask the last person I said that to if she thinks it's funny?" She hissed after him as she gripped the bars, knuckles turning white.

He stopped and glanced back at her. Santana held his gaze and let her arms drop to casually rest on the bars. The smile dropped from his lips and he turned to follow his friends out the door, a little quicker than before.

* * *

Santana dropped her head back against the wall and stared at the ceiling. Her arms wrapped around her knees and pulled them tight into her chest but it didn't do anything to stop her shivering. Puck had been gone for what seemed like hours but in reality she had no idea how long it had been. She didn't even know how long she had been unconscious when they first brought her in. She felt helpless and stupid and scared.

Slowly but surely she could feel the panic setting in and although she was doing everything in her power to fight it she knew it wouldn't be long before it took over completely. She would give anything to even have the remotest idea of how to get out of this, she would sell her soul and anything else to anything or anyone that could offer her a clue because right now she was pretty sure she was going to die.

She wasn't afraid to die, not really. Sure, she was afraid of what would happen to her in the build up as she was fairly certain that it wasn't going to be quick and painless, but it was more the thought of what would happen to everyone else that was getting to her. The thought of not being able to finish what she had started and finally put an end to Sue Sylvester was terrible, but it was nothing compared to the fact that Rachel would be left to deal with that. The thought of her finding out that she was dead was almost too much to take. First her fathers, then Finn and Kurt, now Jesse and…

Where was Puck? Why hadn't they brought him back? How long had it been anyway? Her heart began to clench violently in her chest and she jumped up quickly, walking around the cell and shaking her hands out in an effort to calm down. She couldn't afford to think like this. She needed a plan. She needed to be ready.

Assuming Rachel and Cara had made it out, which of course they had, they had to have, they would have returned to Shelby and gathered reinforcements. They would be on their way here right now and they would get her out, they would get Puck and find Sue. This would all be over soon. They would win. They had to win. They were the good guys, right? They would find a way and all this would be over soon. She and Rachel would ride off into the sunset and live happily ever after in Mexico with her father, Puck, Cara, and all the rest of those idiots she couldn't wait to see again.

That she would never see again.

She stopped her pacing and sank down onto the floor. She couldn't believe this was it. All of the shit she had fought her way through just to die at Sue's hand after all. Why couldn't she just have stayed in Mexico and been happy? And when Rachel found out…

The sound of the door opening stopped her from losing it completely and she jumped to her feet, her position immediately defensive as she prepared for the return of the fat, sweaty guard. Instead the door clanged shut again and Karofsky approached her cell quickly, a finger raised to his lips.

"Where's Puck? What did they do to him?" She asked, rushing over to the door.

"Ssh! You need to stay quiet, they're coming for you and there's nothing I can do." Karofsky whispered, gesturing at her to stay silent. "You have to act like you don't know me."

"And why the fuck would I do anything to save your sorry ass?" She spat with a glare.

"Because," He whispered again, glancing nervously behind him. "I'm the contact so shut the fuck up and don't cause trouble."

Santana stood there gawping at him in disbelief, unable to utter another word if she had wanted to.

Karofsky backed away from the cell and leaned against the wall as the door clanged open again and two more guards walked in.

"Bout time you showed up." He said to them in a bored tone. "You know she'll be pissed if we make her wait."

"Whatever." A weasley looking guard with greasy hair answered. "Like it needs three of us to look after one little girl, especially after the beating she took."

"Yeah, well," Karofsky said over the other two laughing. "She took that beating and she's still standing. You took sick leave when you stubbed your toe so don't get cocky."

"Hey, I broke my toe, asshole." Weasel yelled at him as he moved to open the door.

"Whatever, let's just get this over with." He said, pulling out a pair of handcuffs. "Arms up."

Santana walked over to the now open door and held her arms out to be cuffed. Everything in her was screaming at her to try and fight her way out but just as suddenly all she could think about was Rachel. Rachel telling her not to do anything stupid, that she was injured, that even if she got past these three there would be more waiting for her. Rachel telling her to trust Karofsky.

And she did trust him, weirdly enough. She had trusted him before and he had not let her down. And really what option did she have?

As he put the cuffs on they exchanged a look, once again putting their faith in each other, only with much higher stakes this time. This was no longer about high school and reputations. They were playing for their lives this time.


	19. Chapter 19

The bike skidded to a halt outside the warehouse and Rachel jumped off, sprinting towards the door before Cara had even had a chance to react.

"Rachel, wait!" She heard the redhead call from behind her. She ignored her and banged on the door, yelling at whoever was behind it to hurry up. "Rachel!" Cara said again, grabbing her arm and spinning her round. "Please, you need to…"

"What I need is to get Shelby to get her people off their asses and get back there now!" Rachel yelled, slapping her hand away. "We left them there, Cara! We just left them!"

"We didn't have a choice!" The girl replied as the door flew open. Rachel pushed the protesting guard out of the way and stormed into the building, leaving Cara to deal with his ranting and stop him from chasing after her.

She flew down the corridor and barged through Shelby's door without knocking, then slid to a stop as she took in the scene before her.

"What the fuck is this?" She hissed, her hands instantly clenching into fists.

"Rachel, wait…" Shelby held her hands up in front of her, her eyes flicking to the man standing with her.

"What the fuck is he doing here, Shelby?" Rachel yelled. "Have you been playing us this whole time?"

"Rachel, calm down, let me explain…"

"Don't fucking tell me to calm down, Shelby!" Rachel screamed, advancing towards her. "You're standing here with the person who betrayed us! He told Sue where we were and now she has Santana and Puck!"

"Actually…" Sebastian started, only to be cut off by Shelby holding up her hand.

"She has Santana and Puck?" Shelby asked. "What happened? Where's Jesse?"

"Jesse is dead, Shelby!" Rachel slammed her hands down on the table as Shelby sunk down into her chair, head in her hands. "It was a trap, alright? Your 'source' was lying to you to draw you in! Where did this information really come from, huh? Was it him?" She pointed at Sebastian, her hand shaking with rage.

"I didn't betray you, Rachel." Sebastian said calmly.

"Bullshit!" Rachel spat back. "They told us you did!"

"No," He drawled with a slight shake of his head. "They told you that a man Santana went to see last week told Sue where she was."

"Yes! Which was you!"

"I am not the only person Santana went to see last week though, am I?" He smirked as Rachel paused in realisation. "Do you know who Martin Weyland is, Rachel?"

"No." She replied through gritted teeth, her hands once more clenching into fists. She wanted nothing more than to jump over the table and beat this smarmy asshole into the ground.

"He's a small time arms dealer, has his fingers in various different pies around town. The one that I would imagine will be the most lucrative, if he doesn't overstep his bounds, is a loose arrangement he has with a much more well connected Japanese dealer named Yutani. He has very strong ties with Sue Sylvester that Weyland didn't know about. He was very interested when Santana told him what she had seen." He folded his arms and cocked his head to the side. "Of course, she didn't realise that by giving him that piece of information she would also be giving him the key to discovering who she was and how he could get closer to Yutani and Sue."

"What are you talking about?"

"She told him what time she was there, Rachel. All he had to do was hack into Sue's feed and bingo, he sees Santana riding past the compound on her extremely conspicuous motorcycle."

"So what?" Rachel spat. "He'd already seen her in person, what difference would seeing her bike make?"

"None." Sebastian shrugged. "But seeing it on Sue Sylvester's security feed, along with the alert that someone riding past on a black Ducati Monster in a red leather jacket would obviously generate...well, even a low rent punk like Weyland is going to put a tail on whoever sparked that alert. Especially if they are standing in front of you and fit the physical description the alert details."

"Well, that all sounds extremely plausible and exactly like some bullshit story you would make up to get yourself off the hook." Rachel said, folding her arms in front of her, her mind in a spin.

"He's telling the truth, Rachel." Tina's voice said from behind her. She spun round, her eyes widening in shock as she saw not only Tina but Mike, Mercedes and Sam gathered in the doorway.

"What…? How?!" She spluttered in confusion.

"We went back for the others like we said." Tina explained. "When we told them what was happening they came back with us to help."

"Only when we got back you were gone and the gym was under surveillance." Mike finished.

"So how did you find us?" Rachel asked.

"Well, the guys watching weren't very discreet so we didn't stop, just kept going and tried to think where you would go." Tina said. "But then we noticed we had a tail and...well, long story short we did not manage to shake it and it turned out to be one of Sebastian's guys who told us he could take us to you."

"So here we are." Mercedes smiled at her sadly and walked forward to pull her into a hug. "It's good to see you, girl."

Rachel stood there for a few seconds unsure of what to do. Finally she brought her hands up and returned Mercedes hug stiffly.

"It's good to see you too." She sighed. "But I have to go. I need to go back and get her."

"Rachel, we came back to help you." Mercedes said, pulling back with a confused look on her face. "We will get them back but we need a plan."

"And we have one, but since you guys stormed in there and ruined it I will have to tweek a few things first. Namely, make sure they haven't discovered our source and killed him." Sebastian said sarcastically, leaning back over the table.

"Okay, see now the part where you think I am going anywhere or doing anything with you?" Rachel laughed, turning back round to glare at him. "That's the part where I am not interested. If you think for one second that I believe anything that comes out of your mouth…"

"Rachel.." Mercedes ran her hand gently up her back.

"No, Mercedes!" She wheeled round angrily. "We went to this guy for help and he wouldn't give it to us unless we gave him Blaine, do you understand that?" She whipped back around and jabbed her finger at Sebastian. "You could have stopped this, all of this, if you weren't such a self centered asshole! You could have helped us and instead Sue Sylvester has my girlfriend and my best friend and is doing God knows what to them as we speak, and Jesse is dead. Because of you."

"See, that's where you're wrong." Sebastian folded his arms and leaned against the wall. "I had every intention of helping you. Do you think I like living like this?"

Rachel scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"Ever since Sue Sylvester embarked on her reign of terror my life has been shit. I've gone from living in a mansion and doing whatever the fuck I want all day, every day, to living in a hovel and running skanky clubs filled with some of the most unattractive people I have ever had the misfortune to encounter." He shook his head. "If there was even a chance that you could get rid of her then I wanted to help you. But I needed time to make sure I could trust you and everyone in your group. I knew you wouldn't get me Blaine but it gave me time to dig into who you were working with and.."

"That is such bullshit!" Rachel yelled at him. "You know us, you know what we have been through! You asking us to get Blaine was your pathetic little power trip, just like back in high school."

"I have no idea who you are, Rachel." He replied calmly. "I knew you back in high school, sure. Back then you would do what was right. You would find the higher ground and whatever solution was morally right. You were way too trusting, you didn't play dirty, you didn't fight back. Even when Santana found a non violent solution to me blinding Blaine you wouldn't let her use it."

"So, what, because we are good people you didn't want to help us?"

"No, I needed to know that you weren't the naive schoolgirls I knew back in Lima." He spat. "Giving the information I had to those two girls would only have ended up one way, with both of you dead."

"Do you know what, I don't want to hear it. You don't get to make those kind of judgements over us, you misogynistic prick. You wanted us to get you Blaine because you've wanted to fuck him from the minute you laid eyes on him and you thought we were two pathetic little girls who would just give up and go home without you, leading you straight to him." Rachel slammed her hands down on the table and glared at him. "Well guess what, Sebastian? We are stronger and better than you will ever realise. I don't want, or need your help. I am going back in there, finding my girlfriend and ending this, and if I ever see you again I swear to God I will make you sorry ever thought me so weak."

With that Rachel turned on her heel and pushed through her friends into the corridor. She stormed down the hallway towards her room, her mind twisting and turning, trying to come up with any kind of plan to get her into Sue's compound unnoticed. She banged through the door into her room and looked about. The sheets on the bed were still rumpled and she slammed her eyes shut at the memory of lying there wrapped up in Santana's arms hours earlier. Her heart began to race with fear as she imagined what was happening to her now. Was she hurt? Or worse? She couldn't stay here, she needed to go back. She turned towards the door and was reaching out to open it when it shot open and Tina came marching in closely followed by Mercedes.

"Rachel, you need to stop." Tina said, holding her hands up in front of her.

"No, I need to go and help my girlfriend so get out of my way."

"You need to calm down is what you need to do." Mercedes snapped back, blocking her exit from the room.

"Why does everyone keep telling me to calm down?" Rachel yelled. "Do none of you understand where Santana is? What they're doing to her?"

"Of course we do, Rachel, and we want to help her and Puck just as much as you do but this isn't the way!" Tina replied.

"Then what is, Tina? Blindly following that twisted, lying sack of shit in there?"

"He's not lying, Rachel!" Mercedes tried.

"How the fuck would you know, Mercedes?" Rachel snapped at her. "You've been back two minutes! You have no idea what we've been through!"

"You're right, I don't. But I know what I've been through, and what we all went through in Lima." She squared up to her, hands on hips. "I may not have been here with you, Rachel, but that doesn't mean I haven't suffered. Kurt and Finn were my friends too. Santana and Puck are my friends too."

Rachel scoffed and rolled her eyes at her but her words hit home and she flopped down into the chair, some of her rage dissipating and sadness and fear weighing down on her.

"What happened to you Rachel?" Mercedes asked quietly.

"Are you serious?" Rachel glared at her.

"I get that you're hurting and I know what you've been through, but you're like a different person."

"Because I have to be!" She yelled. "You know what's at stake here."

"Of course I do, and that's precisely why we need you to be you!" Mercedes shot back. "Back in Lima you were our leader, you made the plans, you kept us calm, you got it done. But now it's like 'tonight, ladies and gentlemen, the role of Santana Lopez will be played by Miss Rachel Berry.'"

"Fuck you, Mercedes." Rachel stood up and squared up to her. "Don't you dare…"

"Hey, I'm not saying Santana is a bad person, or leader for that matter." Mercedes held her hands up. "I love Santana, you know that. She's just not you and right now we need you to be you. She needs you to be you."

"Rachel, please listen to us." Tina begged. "They need us and they're running out of time, but you need to get it together first."

Rachel stared at them in anger, her whole body tense, and then suddenly the truth of their words hit her and the grief and fear washed through her.

"I don't know what to do." She cried, sinking back down into the chair. "I'm so scared for them and I don't know what to do."

"And that's alright." Tina said gently, dropping down in front of her and taking her hands. "Because we're here now and we're going to help."

"We'll get through this Rachel." Mercedes said, putting her hand gently on her shoulder. "We'll get them back."


	20. Chapter 20

Karofsky marched Santana out the door and up some stairs to a long, white corridor. There were doors to various rooms coming off either side, separate corridors branching off every now and then and a large set of double doors leading outside at the end. It reminded her so much of Mckinley she wanted to laugh. She was surprised to see daylight streaming in and wondered again how long she had been locked up.

They took the last corridor on the left and she half expected to see the entrance to the teachers lounge as they marched on but instead there was just more white, more doors. Eventually they stopped in front of one and Karofsky knocked.

Santana didn't hear the response but the door was pushed open and she was marched in. As her eyes locked on the woman she had been searching for all this time her fists clenched and her face scrunched up with animalistic rage. Karofsky's grip tightened on her shoulder as they moved further into the room and she could almost hear him willing her to calm down. As he pushed her down into a chair and cuffed her to it Sue Sylvester returned her gaze levelly, sitting behind a desk with her fingers steepled in front of her, seemingly without a care in the world. If it wasn't for the multiple fractured ribs, the broken finger, the split lip and the death of half her friends Santana could almost believe she was back in high school again, waiting for another lecture on how she had failed to destroy the glee club.

And yet there was something not quite right. Behind the superior look on her face and the relaxed pose Sue Sylvester looked different somehow, and not just the fact that she was dressed in a plain navy suit rather than one of her multitude of tracksuits. Santana couldn't quite put her finger on it. Tired? Wary? Scared?

"Thank you, David." The woman said quietly as Karofsky finished up and went to leave the room. She waited for him to close the door behind him before continuing. "Sandbags. I've been waiting for you to get here. I have to tell you, I'm disappointed it took you so long."

"Yeah, well, what can I say, Coach?" She spat. "I've been a little busy burying my dead friends."

"Yes, I heard about that." Sue answered calmly, standing up and walking to a filing cabinet by her desk. "Q and poor, sweet Brittany."

"Don't you fucking dare…" Santana started with a growl.

"Porcelain surprised me though." She continued as though her former Captain had never spoken. "I never picked him for a fighter. Not a very good one as it turns out."

Santana sprang out of the chair with a yell, ignoring the burning in her arms as they were held in position by the cuffs. "I am going to fucking kill you, you evil bitch!" She screamed as she yanked at her restraints. "I swear to God, if it is the last thing I do I will make you pay for everything you did to us!"

"I'm going to stop you right there." Sue said, leaning against the filing cabinet and regarding Santana coolly.

"Don't you have a soul?" Santana cried out in desperation. "A conscience? Don't you understand what you have done to us? To this country? Don't you care?"

"Sit down, Santana."

"Don't fucking stand there and bark orders at me like we were back in high school, you psychotic freak! You were vindictive and crazy even back then but after your sister died…"

"How dare you talk about my sister?" Sue roared, her calm finally breaking as she advanced on Santana in a rage. "You don't know the first thing about me or what happened so sit down and shut up!"

The twist of her face and venom in her voice caused Santana to stumble back into her chair, the fear and respect ingrained in her from years of careful abuse and training by the formidable woman kicking in and pushing her rage down. She eyed her cautiously as she towered before her, the fire slowly receding from her pale blue eyes as she ran a shaky hand over her carefully coiffed hair. Slowly she walked back round her desk and sat down carefully before raising her eyes once again to her former student.

"What I have to tell you may come as a shock, Lopez, but I want you to do your best to fight your fiery, slightly unclear Latin heritage and try to hear my words. I am not your enemy here."

"Bullshit." Santana spat. "You are the only true enemy I have ever had."

"If you believe that you are a bigger fool than I ever gave you credit for."

"Oh fuck you!" She hissed, leaning forward in her chair again. "You ruined my whole life! You turned my girlfriend into a psycho that I had to kill. You kidnapped my best friend's child because she wanted to leave your twisted little group, turning her into a mini version of yourself and weren't even there to protect her when she went so far out of her mind that she tried to murder everyone she ever cared about! Just tell me why, Sue?"

"I wish I could."

"What?" Santana said incredulously.

"I can't answer that for you because I am not responsible for it."

Santana stared at her in disbelief. "Are you fucking kidding me?"

"Do you remember how this all started, Santana?" Sue asked her calmly.

"I'm sorry, but seriously are you fucking joking? Are you actually that delusional that you truly believe you are not responsible for what happened in Lima?"

"Answer the question."

"God, you're serious aren't you?" She laughed. "You are seriously so unhinged that you've totally cleared yourself of any blame."

"Answer the question."

"For God's sake…" Santana shook her head and snorted in exasperation. She tried to fold her arms and rolled her eyes in irritation as the cuffs stopped her. "You got elected, the attack happened, you shut down the town and rolled in the army. After a few months you shut down the police and got the law passed stopping people from leaving the town. You put Quinn in charge of the Cheerios and made us 'peacekeepers'," Santana did quotation marks with her fingers and rolled her eyes at this. "Then you disappeared."

"And then?"

"And then what?" She yanked her arms up in frustration. "Then the world went to hell! You sent word that we had a mole and she had to be dealt with, we found out it was Devon and Britt tortured and murdered her. Turns out she had a gift for it so she decided not to stop there. Do you know what she did to me?"

"No."

"Of course you don't, because you set this whole thing in motion and then disappeared to destroy the rest of the country."

"I don't know because I was cut out once I served my purpose in Lima." Sue stated simply.

"Excuse me?"

"You said it yourself, Sandbags. Once the police disappeared so did I."

Santana stared at her again, completely thrown by her words. "Are you seriously trying to tell me you weren't running the Cheerios?"

"Yes I am." She replied.

"You remember I was in the Cheerios?"

"Yes I do."

Santana sat back, no idea how to continue this conversation. "Okay. So if you weren't running the show, who was?"

"Russell Fabray."

That name, stated so simply, so calmly, by this woman whom she had hated so completely for the last four years threw Santana dangerously off kilter. Her heart thudded in her chest as she remembered the man who turned her seemingly fearless best friend into a gibbering wreck every time they were in his presence.

"You're lying."

"I wish I were." Sue replied, shaking her head just once and reaching into a drawer in her desk.

"I don't believe you."

"I didn't expect that you would." She shrugged. "But I know you have experience in putting your faith in the wrong people and the man is a genius manipulator. Before I knew what was going on he had taken control and made it impossible for me to get it back."

"Oh yeah?" Santana scoffed. "And how did he do that?"

"He took Becky Jackson."

Santana wasn't sure how much of this she could take. Suddenly everything she had believed for all these years was a lie. Or was Sue's tale a lie? She looked down and shook her head in an effort to straighten her thoughts.

"So you sold us all out? For Becky? Me, Quinn, Britt, the whole fucking country? You seriously expect me to believe that you, Sue Sylvester, couldn't come up with a single plot to save her and overthrow him."

"Believe me I tried."

"Not hard enough. You left us. You let him destroy us."

"That I will take responsibility for." She said, the tiredness showing clearly on her face now. "I wanted to try and make sure you were all safe, so I sent in someone to watch out for you. The mole you were searching for was mine. My plan backfired and for that, and what happened to her, I am sorry."

"What?" Santana asked, suddenly so tired that she couldn't even bring herself to be shocked.

"Q didn't know. All he told her was that there was a mole and she had to deal with it. He came and told me that they had found my girl and dealt with it and that if I interfered again there would be dire consequences. I assume you have worked out how he was controlling Quinn at this point?"

Santana tipped her head back and sighed deeply, every injury she had received aching all at once. "She knew it was him and not you?"

"She knew."

"I wish I could have helped her." Santana whispered, tears clouding her vision.

"You can help her now. I want you to work with me. I want you to help me finish this."

"What?" She looked up at the woman and shook her head in disbelief.

"I want you to join my team, Santana." Sue held her gaze. "You can be my head of security. Or something."

"Right." The wheels in her head started turning. "So, you're telling me that Russell Fabray has been controlling everything behind the scenes for all this time, using you as some sort of, what puppet? Public hate figure to hide behind?" Sue nodded once. "And now you expect me to believe that having threatened to kill me for causing the death of his daughter that he will just allow me to come work for you, no come back, no questions asked?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because Russell Fabray is the kind of man who sees women as objects to be controlled and discarded as he sees fit. If you had died he would have been fine with it it, but just because you haven't doesn't mean he considers you enough of a threat to concern himself with. Truthfully he never cared about you at all. He used the threat on your life to lure you in to get to the person he does hold responsible for the corruption and eventual death of his little girl. The person he's always blamed."

Santana's blood ran cold. "Where's Puck?" She asked quietly.

"Santana…"

"Where is Puck?" She yelled.

"I don't know." Sue said, shaking her head. "They took him to Fabray about two hours ago but…"

"And you didn't think to tell me till now?" She shot forward in her chair, fear and anger rushing through her.

"Well, you didn't really give me much of a choice."

"We have to do something!" Santana pulled again at the cuffs. "If you're telling the truth then you have to let me out of here right now!"

"You know I can't do that."

"Well, do something! Anything!"

"I can't do anything yet, as we have already established."

"But…"

"Santana," Sue sighed. "As I am hoping you are smart enough to figure out, a man as powerful and paranoid as Russell Fabray has undoubtedly bugged this office. Thankfully I am a resourceful woman and have installed a jamming signal. In the interest of not arousing too much attention I can only utilise it in short bursts and since I switched it on four and a half minutes ago you have thirty seconds to make your decision before I either release you or throw you back in your cage and leave your fate up to him. If you join me there is a chance that you can save Puck, but it's extremely doubtful. What is certain is that if you say no your friends will no doubt stage an ill advised rescue attempt and get themselves all killed. You can stop that, but I need your answer and I need it now. Do you understand?"

Santana's mouth went dry as she realised the enormity of Sue's statement. She was right. There was no choice. The only chance she had of saving Puck was to get out of these cuffs and the only way to do that was to say yes. And if she said no then Rachel and Cara would come storming in here and possibly get themselves killed. Did she trust Sue? No. Would she sell herself to her to protect her friends? What choice did she have?

In the space of half an hour everything she had believed to be true had been turned on it's head and all she had left that she could cling to was her love for her girlfriend and her trust in her and Cara.

"So," Sue asked, pointing at the ceiling to show they could once again be heard. "Are you ready to come back to the winning team?"

Santana readied herself to make her pact with the devil and opened her mouth to speak. Before she could get the words out the door behind her opened and Sue's face turned white.

"I thought you were dead." She said quietly, a small smile pulling at the corner of her mouth..

"Come on, Coach," A familiar voice replied, causing Santana's heart to break in her chest. "You taught me better than that."


	21. Chapter 21

Rachel sat in the dining hall with Tina, trying to eat the food her friend had put in front of her. She felt like she hadn't eaten in days and honestly she couldn't even remember if that was the case. Still, her stomach roiled at the prospect of eating and she was desperate to get back out to the compound.

"Please, Tina, I can't!" Rachel whined. "Can't we just go?"

"No!" Tina replied firmly. "You need to eat something. We need you focused and strong."

Sullenly Rachel stabbed into the food with her fork and pushed it into her mouth. It tasted like gravel and she had to take a swig of water to be able to swallow it.

"Happy? Can we go now?"

"Rachel Berry, I swear I will slap you if you don't eat everything on that plate in the next five minutes."

Rachel sighed and grabbed another forkful. This was ridiculous. They had far more important things to be doing, like coming up with their rescue plan. She wished they would just listen to her but she knew it was useless to keep fighting Tina, and secretly she knew she was right.

"What are we going to do, Tina?" She asked between chews.

"Well, I know you're going to yell at me again but I really think we have to trust Sebastian."

"No." Rachel shook her head violently. "I told you, I don't trust him and I don't want his help."

"But…"

"No!" She slammed her fork down angrily. "Look, I know you think I am doing this out of some kind of misguided attempt to back up what I said in there…" She chose to ignore Tina's small shrug. "But we tried it his way and it didn't work. If we go back in through the tunnel their defences will still be in place and even if they didn't find out about Karofsky…"

"Karofsky?" Tina repeated, eyes wide.

"Yes. He was the first one there, he must be the contact."

"Well, maybe not. Sebastian did say that the plan wasn't supposed to happen till tonight."

"Yeah, but how big of a coincidence is it that Karofsky just happens to be working for Sue, that he just happens to know all of us from Lima, just happens to have frequented the same bars as Sebastian…"

"Karofsky drank in the same bars as Sebastian?"

"Well, back in school he did but… forget about that." Rachel shook her head, they were getting off track. "The point is if he still drinks in the same kind of bars they could have bumped into each other again?"

"Well, maybe but it just doesn't seem like something Karofsky would do." Tina scrunched up her nose in contemplation.

"Whatever, forget Karofsky…"

"Wait, forget Karofsky? Is it Karofsky or not?"

"Stop saying Karofsky!" Rachel held her hand up in irritation. "Whoever the source is…"

"Eat." Tina interrupted, pointing at her plate.

"Whoever the source is," Rachel continued, rolling her eyes but picking up her fork. "In all likelihood they have been scared off by what happened earlier and won't be there when we turn up tonight. I for one do not want to risk getting back into that water without knowing there is someone we can trust on the other side."

"Okay, but what are our alternatives?" Tina asked. "Hang about outside and wait for some guards to stroll by? Clock them over the head and steal their uniforms like in the Wizard of Oz?"

"Tina," Rachel put her fork down, eyes lighting up. "You are a genius."

"Er, Rachel, I was joking. I'm not doing that." Tina folded her arms and shook her head.

"What?" Rachel asked, distracted. "No, come on, Tina, I'm not...don't be stupid. Where's Cara?" She stood up and walked back towards Santana's room.

"I don't know." Tina replied following her. "I haven't seen her since you got back and I didn't want to ask in case...well, you know."

"She's fine, she came back with me." Rachel pushed Santana's door open and turned back to Tina. "Can you go and find her for me?"

"Sure. But what are you planning?"

"I'll tell you when you get back." She smiled. "Go get the others and meet me back here. Not Shelby, and definitely not Sebastian. Keep this quiet, Tina."

Tina nodded, an uncertain look on her face, and headed back down the hallway leaving Rachel to search through Santana's bag for the information she needed.

* * *

Rachel looked around at her friends gathered in the room, trying to gauge their reactions. Tina and Mike looked at each other and then back at her, Tina with a small nod, Mike with a shrug. Sam smiled over at her with a nod. She had known he would be okay, her plan was ridiculous enough that it could be a pivotal plot point in one of his favourite movies. Blaine's face was unreadable, as it had been for the whole six months she had spent with him in Mexico, but he gave a tight nod and it was all Rachel could have hoped for. Mercedes looked worried but nodded at Rachel with a sigh.

"It's risky but I think it could work." She admitted. "If Santana's plans are right and the maps of the compound are up to date, and if they haven't got a higher guard presence after what happened earlier...But it's a lot of ifs though, Rachel. I still think we should bring Shelby in on this…"

"Absolutely not." Rachel stated firmly, shaking her head. "I don't trust her, Mercedes. She lied to us and she's working with Sebastian. The only people I trust are either in this room or already in that compound." She looked around. "Or missing. Are you all certain you haven't seen Cara?"

They all shook their heads. "Do you think she went back?" Tina asked.

"She wouldn't have gone without me." Rachel shook her head. "Although, I was acting a bit crazy. Maybe…"

"A bit?" Tina said quietly, earning her a glare. "So, when do we leave?"

"You guys get the stuff and load up the truck." Rachel replied, giving Tina a final glare for good measure before turning to the rest of the group. "I'm going to look for her once more and then meet you out front. Do it as quickly and quietly as you can, I don't want any interference from them."

"What about the guy on the door?" Sam asked.

"Just...take care of it." Rachel said, eyes hard. Sam nodded at her tightly and stood up. Each member of the group picked up what they needed from the room and filed out the door. Rachel picked up Santana's bag and handed it to Mike. "Pick up Puck's too, would you?"

He nodded and pulled her into a hug. "I'll see you out front."

"Mike?" She called after him. "Thanks for coming back for us."

"Of course." He nodded and headed out the door.

Rachel followed him out and stopped by her own room to pick up her stuff before moving on to Cara's. When she pushed the door open the feeling that had been gnawing at her grew stronger. The redhead's room was empty, all her stuff was gone but it looked like it had been done in a hurry. Not that they had been there long, or had had any particularly personal touches to remove, but the chair was at an odd angle and the sheets on the bed looked like they had been cast aside in a panic. Much as they would have been when Cara woke up and realised Puck was gone.

It wasn't right, Cara wouldn't just have left without telling her. Something must have happened.

"Looking for your friend?"

"Fuck off, Sebastian." Rachel snapped, pushing past him and out of Cara's room.

"Seems odd that she would just run off, doesn't it?" He asked, following her down the hallway. "Unless she was afraid of something."

"And what might that be?" She sighed, really not wanting to be drawn into conversation, but really needing to know where her friend was.

"Maybe she was worried that someone would find out about something?" He smirked.

"Sebastian," Rachel stopped and turned to face him wearily. "I really don't have time for your shit so if you know where she went just tell me?"

"I thought you didn't want my help?"

"God, you are the most pathetic…"

"Look, I wasn't lying when I said I was buying time to make sure I could trust you." Sebastian cut her off. "Turns out I was right not too."

"What are you talking about?" Rachel asked, so bored of this conversation she couldn't even bring herself to care.

"Not everyone in your little group is who they claim to be."

"Sebastian, I really…"

"There is no such person as Cara Harris." He cut her off again. "Well, I'm sure there is, but that's certainly not who she is."

"What?" Rachel asked thickly, suddenly more interested.

"She's been lying to you, Rachel. Santana as well." Sebastian walked towards her, his expression unreadable. "Her real name is Jennifer Cook. She grew up in Cleveland but got into some trouble and was sent to a military school not far from here. When she was 15 she was handpicked, along with several other girls, by one Sue Sylvester for extra training. Then, about five years ago, she disappeared, never to be heard from again. Until now."

"Bullshit." Rachel said quietly. "She saved our lives. Why would she do that if she was working for Sue?"

"Who knows?" He shrugged, hands in his pockets. "Maybe so Sue would have the satisfaction of killing you herself?"

"That's ridiculous." Rachel shook her head and walked away.

"Then where is she, Rachel?" He called after her. "And why isn't she helping you with your little plan?"

She ignored him and carried on through the dining hall, walking quickly up the corridor towards the exit. He was right about one thing, Cara had definitely left, but what he was telling her had to be a lie. She had helped them, saved their lives on more than one occasion, and she seemed to genuinely care about Santana. She refused to believe that she had been lying to them all this time. And if she had been, Rachel hoped with everything in her that Santana never found out because she knew that if she did it would kill her. Or she would kill Cara.

She pushed through the door and out into the night, sparing a thought for the unfortunate soul who had been on guard duty that night. From his slumped position in the room next to the door it looked like he was going to wake up in no small amount of pain. She jogged quickly up the path to meet the others and threw her bag into the back of the truck.

"Let's go." She called, swinging her leg over Santana's bike.

"Cara?" Tina called back.

"She's not here." Rachel started the engine and sped off down the road.


	22. Chapter 22

Santana leaned forward in an effort to stop the bile rising up her throat, her eyelids clenched shut to stop the tears threatening to break free, She would not let them see that they had broken her, not ever. She was Santana Lopez, Goddamit. Nobody broke her.

"Santana." She heard Sue say calmly. She snapped her eyes up, willing the hate in her eyes to melt the woman where she sat. She pointed up at the ceiling to remind her that they were still being listening to, as if she cared. "I need your answer."

Santana flicked her gaze to the girl slowly making her way from the doorway to join Sue behind her desk. She had never felt so betrayed by anyone in her life, never felt the sheer rage and hatred towards anyone before. This woman had been her confidant, her lifeline after Quinn and Brittany had gone bad, the only one she had trusted, even remotely, with her thoughts, day in, day out, for four years. They had saved each others lives.

She addressed Cara as she gave her response.

"Fuck you." She spat. "Fuck you both."

Cara dropped her eyes to the floor as she took up her position next to Sue, her arms crossed defensively in front of her. Santana clenched her fists and as her whole body began to shake, dangerously close to a complete meltdown.

"I have hated you for as long as I have known you," She snapped her head to Sue, her words almost a growl. "And nothing you have said in the last ten minutes has changed that. You are a selfish, cold hearted bitch who has always been willing to sacrifice anything and anyone to get what you want. Well I am glad that karma finally got round to biting you in the ass and I hope you spend the rest of your life being shoved around by that piece of shit until he gets bored of you and guts you like a fish. I will never join you, Sue, do you hear me? I would rather deal with anything and everything that he can think up for me than spend one more minute with you. There is nothing he can do to me now that could be worse than what you have put me through." She flicked her eyes back to Cara. "I hope it was worth it."

Sue let out a sigh and leaned forward to press a button on her desk.

"I'm sorry you feel that way, Sandbags. We would have made a great team."

The three of them sat there in loaded silence until Karofsky came back in to collect her. Santana held herself as tightly as possible until he unlocked her cuffs and then shot out of her chair before he had a chance to react. She vaulted up onto the desk and swung her leg round, catching Sue square in the jaw and knocking her backwards out of her chair. She followed through with her kick and dropped down over the older woman, her fists ready to barrel down on her face until there was nothing left of her but suddenly all the air was knocked from her lungs and pain shot through her battered body. She tried to sit up and work out what was going on but couldn't move, Cara having knocked her down and was now straddling her, holding her arms in position above her head.

"Get the fuck off me!" She screamed in her face, bucking wildly, rage pushing the pain back down. "Get the fuck off me right now, you fucking lying piece of shit!"

"Santana, please just listen to me…" Cara begged, desperately trying to keep her pinned down.

"The next time I listen to you will be when I hear your dying screams, you fucking devious cunt." Santana hissed in her face, bringing her own as close as she was able. Cara looked as shocked and hurt as if she had been slapped and her grip loosened just the tiniest bit. It was all Santana needed and she threw the girl off her, swapping their positions and raining punch after punch into any and every part of her body Cara was not quick enough to protect before she was hauled off her by Karofsky and two other guards who had been called in. She kicked out with her legs as she was pulled away, one of them managing to connect quite satisfyingly with her former friend's groin, before she felt a sharp pain and everything went black.

* * *

When she came to she was back on the damp floor of her dark cell, a new and exciting head wound to add to her collection. She tried to sit up and was immediately overcome with nausea, retching up bile as the room span and her vision darkened. As the feeling began to recede she backed away slowly and carefully, curling up into a ball with her back against the wall, tears pouring down her face.

She didn't understand, she really didn't. Sure, she had been a bitch in high school, she had made a lot of bad decisions since then, but what had she done that would make her deserve this? When Sue had put them into position as "Peacekeepers" in Lima Santana had laughed about it, actually doubled over, crying with hysterical laughter, with Quinn. It was so ironic, given that they were usually the ones starting all the problems with their scheming and backstabbing, that they couldn't help but laugh. And they figured that nothing much would change, they would just live in a big house and do what they normally did on a larger scale.

But everything changed. Sue moved away and suddenly Santana was taking orders from a decidedly not amused Quinn. She didn't understand it back then. The change came over her best friend so fast she got whiplash, and not just metaphorically. When Quinn came back from her first solo visit to "Sue" Santana had behaved the same way she always did with the blonde, as in she mocked and insulted her, and was rewarded with the tip of a whip slicing through her neck so fast she couldn't make sense of it at first. If it wasn't for the look in Quinn's eyes and the rest of the group backing away from her she honestly wouldn't have believed that it had actually happened. Until Quinn made two of the Cheerios tie her to the wall in the basement, ripped her shirt off and whipped her in front of them all whilst she gave her speech about how she was not going to be disrespected anymore, by anyone. It certainly worked. Making an example by ripping your best friend's back to shreds for calling you a miserable bitch will certainly show people not to fuck with you.

Of course, now Santana understood a lot better the last five minutes of the "example", the part that had done the most damage, when Quinn had lost it and started screaming that "you always thought you could do whatever you wanted to me and just get away with it, you always thought I was so weak! Well I'm not and I never was and you can't do this to me anymore!"

Santana had never thought Quinn was weak, not once. She had always respected and envied her best friend's strength and quiet dignity, especially knowing what her home life was like, but she had never known exactly how strong the girl had been until today. Finding out that your abusive father had kidnapped your daughter and was threatening to do God knows what to her unless you did exactly what he said? She was less surprised that Quinn had eventually snapped completely than she was it hadn't happened sooner.

Santana swiped uselessly at her face. She missed Quinn so much in this moment and she would have given anything if the girl could just have trusted her enough to confide in her and let her help. But then trust was in short supply in the Cheerio's camp, and with good cause it appeared. Cara was the mole. Cara was the fucking mole and Santana had saved her fucking life. And what about Devon? How could Cara have just let her die like that, knowing that she was innocent? They were together, for God's sake! Even if they weren't in love, how could you just let someone you cared about die like that? And how had she not seen it? How was it that Cara had been able to make her believe that she could trust her, that they were friends? She was Santana Lopez, she didn't let people in. But this girl… how could she have been so stupid. She had trusted her with everything. She had trusted her with Rachel.

Fuck.

Santana sat up quickly. Cara and Rachel had escaped down the tunnel. Together. And now Cara was here. Where was Rachel? Had Cara killed her? Was she locked up somewhere? Was she in on it?

Santana's blood ran cold. She couldn't allow herself to think like this. If Rachel had been playing her too...

She leaned forward, retching again but bringing up nothing. She started to shake, her breath coming in fits and starts. She could barely breathe, barely see, her ears were ringing, and she couldn't calm herself down.

"Rachel…" She gasped out as she slumped forward.

* * *

Santana could hear a soft voice. She felt the hair being pushed softly off her face and something pressing to her lips.

"Rachel?" She tried to say. Her eyes were struggling to open but she could hear the voice telling her to drink and her head was gently lifted. She felt the water spilling into her mouth and coughed as it caught in her throat.

"Careful." The voice whispered. "Slowly."

She tried to drink again, careful not to swallow it as greedily as she wanted to. She brought her hands up to take hold of the bottle as her eyes began to open and she started to take in her surroundings. Someone was holding her up. Someone she knew. Someone whose voice she recognised. Someone definitely not Rachel. Someone…

She whipped around and swung out with her left fist. Cara blocked it easily and scooted away.

"Please stop trying to hit me and just listen!" She begged as she retreated out of the cell.

"Fuck you!" Santana yelled after her, slamming into the bars as the redhead hurriedly locked the door. "I swear to God if you ever touch me again I will rip your fucking head off!"

"Santana, please, you need to save your strength so sit down and shut the fuck up!" Cara snapped, anger flashing in her eyes.

"I've got enough strength in me to do what I need to do to you!" She yelled, desperately trying to reach her through the bars.

"This isn't about me!" Cara yelled back. "This is about Puck and Rachel!"

"You don't get to say their names!" Santana screamed back, swinging uselessly against the bars, her strength ebbing away even as her rage burned on. "You don't even get to think about them!"

"Well then will you?" Cara tried. "Puck needs our help, he's running out of time…"

"And who's fault is that?" Santana tried to launch herself through the bars again, murder in her eyes.

"And Rachel is walking into a trap!" Cara shouted over the top of her. "Santana, please just listen to me!"

"Where is Rachel?" She asked, tiredness flooding through her. "What did you do to her?"

"I didn't do anything to her! I got her out, back to the warehouse, but then he was there…"

"Who was there?"

"Sebastian." Cara took advantage of her confusion and took a step forward. "He's working with Shelby and the others."

"Oh my God," Santana laughed bitterly and backed away from the bars. "Has everyone been lying to me? I mean, seriously, name me one person who isn't?"

"I'm not lying to you, Santana, I never did…"

"Don't you fucking dare stand there and say that to me…" She spat out, approaching the bars again.

"I didn't tell you that I was sent in there by Sue because I couldn't, you wouldn't have understood!" Cara held her hands out imploringly. "She sent me there to help you…"

"She sent you there to spy on us!"

"No, I swear, I was there to help!"

"I bet the two of you have been laughing your asses off these last six months, huh?" Santana shook her head and sat down heavily.

"Today is the first time I have spoken to her since Devon."

"Devon." She said the name quietly. "She died for you. Because I trusted you. How could you do that to her? To me?"

"I didn't have a choice, Santana." Cara knelt down sadly on the other side of the bars. "It was her or me and I couldn't tell you."

"You are one selfish fuck, you know that?" She laughed, shaking her head at her in disbelief. "You let your girlfriend be murdered because you were spying on me and you expect me to somehow understand?"

"No, that's not what I meant, Santana." The redhead said with a sigh. "How do you think Russell found out I was there in the first place?"

Santana looked at her blankly for a few seconds before she worked in out. "Okay," She huffed out a laugh. "This is now officially ridiculous. What is this, Macbeth?"

"She...she found my phone." Cara said quietly, finger and thumb pinching the bridge of her nose. In the cellar, right after...well, it must have fallen out of my pocket when we were...well she found it on the floor and opened it up to see whose it was. I couldn't do anything to stop her, it would have looked too suspicious. So she looked through it and saw there was only one number. That got her suspicious and I just played along. She said she was taking it to Quinn. Obviously she didn't."

"How do you figure that? Quinn was the one that told us to start looking."

"Because Quinn wasn't there the night she found it and when she got back you went in to see her straight away."

"Yeah, I remember." Santana snorted out a humourless laugh. "And then came straight out and told my 'friend' the news."

"Come on, Santana. You know I couldn't have told you. We didn't know each other well enough back then."

"We don't know each other now." She pointed out bitterly.

"Yes we do!" Cara sat up and grabbed the bars. "I know you think I betrayed you but I never have and I never will."

Santana just looked at her. She wanted to claw her eyes out through the bars. She wanted to stand up and kick and scream and punch at her until there was nothing left of either of them but she was so tired and everything hurt. So she just looked.

"I know that I can't make you believe me but we have to help them." Cara went on, taking advantage of her silence. "We're running out of time. Will you let me help you? Help them?"

She just stared at her again. She didn't trust her, didn't trust anyone. At this point she wasn't even sure she could trust Rachel, or Puck for that matter, but what choice did she have? And really, what more could they do to her at this point? If she walked out of her cell with Cara right now what was the worst that could happen?


	23. Chapter 23

Rachel dropped behind the wall and pressed herself as flat against it as she could. She held her breath and strained her ears, her heart hammering against her rib cage. After several moments of tense silence she turned and peered over it to scan the area she still had to cover. It was clear and everywhere was quiet, too quiet for her liking. She glanced to the left and locked eyes with Sam, giving a slight nod of her head. He nodded back and looked around the edge of the building before sprinting forward, low to the ground. Rachel covered him from her central position before flicking her eyes to the right. Blaine gave her the barest of acknowledgements before sprinting to join Sam behind the squat, white building at the other side of the yard.

She turned slightly at the sound beside her, taking in Mercedes with her peripheral vision whilst keeping her focus on Sam and Blaine.

"I don't like it." Mercedes whispered to her. "It's too quiet. Where is everybody?"

"I don't know." Rachel whispered back. "Maybe we got lucky for once?"

Mercedes chuckled softly and started over to the left. Once she had reached the spot previously occupied by Sam and nodded to confirm her position Rachel darted to the left and took up Blaine's spot. From here she could see her three friends and had a decent view of the front gate. It was nearly time for them to make their move and she needed to know the others were in position first. She strained her ears again and looked for any sign of movement from the gate. After what felt like about five minutes she heard a low, melodic whistle and then the responding one from Blaine. She allowed herself a brief smile at their group choosing to communicate this way, a simple reminder of who they had been before all this started, referencing their last high school play. She idly wondered if they would have played it differently had they known.

Rachel took a deep breath and steadied herself for what was to come. Any mistake now and their plan would fail, they would have to find another way into the compound and she couldn't afford to wait any longer. Santana and Puck were relying on her.

She focused her aim on the edge of the building as Blaine and Sam made their move. Casually they slung their weapons over their shoulders and strolled round the corner of the building towards the one opposite, quietly chatting to each other. Rachel kept her gun trained on the door ahead of them as they walked, and took in a steadying breath as Sam knocked at it before jamming his hands into his pockets and bouncing on his toes.

"Hey," She heard him greet the guy who answered the door. "Weyland sent us to pick up the package."

"What package?" The guy snapped back, pulling a cigarette out of his mouth. "There's no deliveries tonight."

"It's a special delivery. It's in the van." Sam answered easily, jerking his head towards the vehicle behind him.

"Hey, asshole, did you hear me?" The guy said, squaring up to him. "There are no deliveries tonight."

"Come on, man, don't fuck us about." Sam sighed. "Weyland sent us to pick up a special delivery for the compound. Go check with your buddy if you don't know about it."

"Listen, you fucking idiot, there ain't no deliveries tonight, special or otherwise!" The guy yelled. "Nobody told me nothing and I'm the only one here, so…"

His rant was interrupted by Blaine stepping forward and headbutting him in the face. As his hands went up to staunch the flow of blood from his nose Blaine kicked him hard in the groin and then again in the head as he dropped to his knees.

"Dude, easy!" Sam said quietly, holding his hands out to steady his friend. Blaine shrugged him off and grabbed the guy's collar, dragging him through the doorway. Sam turned back to Rachel with a worried look and then followed him in. After a couple of uneasy minutes the two of them came back out and began walking towards the van. Rachel shot a last look around the yard and then nodded to Mercedes before jogging over to the vehicle herself.

"I don't like it." Mercedes said again as they all climbed in. "It was too easy."

"Let's just get out of here," Sam said quietly, glancing at Blaine briefly as he started up the engine. "We can discuss it on the way."

"Maybe they just weren't expecting anyone to know." Rachel suggested, desperately hoping it was true.

"Or maybe you're wrong, Rachel." Mercedes said quietly. "Maybe Weyland selling us out to Sue didn't get him invited to the party."

"It has to have done." She replied quietly. "Why else would he have done it?"

The four of them remained silent as the van pulled up at the gate. Slowly it began to open and Tina's smiling face appeared by the passenger door.

"Nice work guys!" She beamed.

"You too, Tina." Rachel smiled back as Tina pulled the side door open and jumped in, quickly followed by Jake and Ryder.

"And look what we found in the gatehouse." Mike smiled holding up a piece of paper. "You were right, Rachel."

She took the paper from him and studied it as he climbed in the back and slammed the door, then leaned her head back and let out a relieved sigh as Blaine accelerated out of the lot towards the compound.

* * *

"Okay, so are we all clear?" Rachel asked, trying to read the faces of her friends as the huddled in the dark in the back of the van. As far as she could tell they all nodded. She turned to Jake and Ryder. "And you two, don't do anything stupid. Stick with the plan and don't engage unless you have to."

"We got it, Rachel." Jake answered tersely. "It's covert, not an assault. We get in, we find them, we get out. I just want to get my brother back."

"And our best chance to do that is stay out of sight." She repeated, reaching out to place a hand on his knee. "We'll get them back, Jake. We have to."

"If we're not too late already." Came his muttered reply.

Rachel's stomach clenched uneasily but she was saved from having to reply by a knock from the cab of the van, Mike's signal that they had arrived. The van slowed and then stopped.

"You're early." They heard a voice say after an uncomfortably long pause.

"Yutani is very busy man." Mike replied in a heavy accent. "We do this now."

"Wait here." The voice came again after a few moments. Rachel glanced around at the tense figures in the small space. She tested the weight of the gun in her hand and prayed that she wouldn't have to use it. She knew the plan was risky but it was the only chance they had. It was simple in theory - Santana had told Weyland about his associate Yutani's side deal with Sue. In retaliation Weyland had sold Santana out to Sue in an attempt, Rachel assumed, to get in on the action. They had used the plans Santana had made of Weyland's lock up to sneak in and steal a branded van, taking out the guards inside and at the gate in the hopes that they could buy more time and hopefully find some sort of documentation to get them into Sue's compound unnoticed. Thankfully they had found an itinerary with a scheduled delivery from Weyland to the compound for tomorrow night, they just had to make the guards accept the delivery early. She only hoped the delivery pass they had snagged from the gate house was real and not something Weyland had cooked up as a revenge plot. And if Mike and Blaine couldn't talk their way passed the guards, well...

Blaine was her other concern at the moment. Jake and Ryder might have gotten themselves into trouble before but it seemed like Blaine was actively looking for it. He had barely spoken since she had got back and from what she had heard from Mercedes that was the way he had been since Kurt had died. Kurt. She still couldn't believe he was gone. When Blaine and Mercedes had been in Mexico it had been easy to pretend that Kurt had just been there with them but now that they were back it was suddenly real again. Kurt and Finn were gone. Quinn and Brittany were gone. Puck and Santana were…

Okay, she really couldn't allow herself to think like this, there was too much at stake. She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders, putting on the best show of strength she could for her friends.

"Alright, go through." The voice returned finally. "Go straight down to the end, as usual. They're waiting for you."

"Thank you." Mike said curtly.

Rachel sent up a silent prayer of thanks and allowed herself a small smile as the engine started up again and the van rolled forward.

"Here we go." Mercedes said quietly. Rachel reached out and took her hand, smiling at her softly as she realised it was shaking.

Suddenly the tense atmosphere in the van was broken by Tina trying to smother her laughter.

"Ssh!" Rachel hissed. "Tina, what's wrong with you?"

"I'm sorry!" Tina giggled quietly. "I just have the marching song from the Wizard of Oz stuck in my head! Also, I'm kind of nervous and it's a thing that happens."

"Well it's going to get us all killed, so stop it!" Ryder snapped.

"I'm sorry!" She said again.

"It's okay, Tina," Rachel reached across to her. "We're all nervous, just please, be quiet."

Tina struggled to get herself under control as the van slowed to a stop once more. They listened in silence to what sounded like a door rumbling open and then they jerked forwards again. They pulled to a stop and the engine cut out, then the front doors opened and slammed shut again. Rachel strained to hear what was being said but could just make out muffled voices in the distance followed by nothing. She glanced over at Mercedes, then Tina, then tightened her grip on her gun once more.

The sound of shaky breathing washed over them as they sat waiting. Rachel could barely stand it. What was going on? Were Mike and Blaine okay? She felt Mercedes grip tighten on her hand and squeezed back as Sam inched towards the door. He looked over at her and she shook her head quickly, everything in her screaming to get out of the van but knowing if they moved too soon they could blow everything.

Suddenly the door swung open and they all raised their weapons, blinking from the darkness.

"Woah, easy!" Mike whispered. "We're okay. It's clear."

Rachel let out a shaky breath and climbed out of the van, her eyes slowly adjusting to the dim light.

"What happened?" Jake asked quietly, looking at the three guards slumped in the corner. "Where's Blaine?"

"He went to check the exit." Mike offered, shooting a nervous glance at Rachel.

"Alright, let's go." She said quickly, returning his look. "Quietly."

She followed Mike towards the back of the garage, glancing down at the pile of, hopefully, unconscious bodies in the corner as she passed.

"Is he alright?" She asked Mike quietly.

"He's scary but effective." He muttered back. "Anyway, we're in. Let's just keep going and hope for the best. Just like the old times, huh?"

Rachel smiled at that and squeezed his arm. "I'm glad you're here, Mike."

"Wouldn't miss it." He smiled at her sadly and gave her a quick hug as they reached the door. "We'll get them back, Rachel."

She nodded to him tightly and turned to face Blaine at the door.

"Are we okay?" She asked. He nodded back and put his hand on the door knob. She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. "Then let's do this."


	24. Chapter 24

Santana winced and leaned against the wall. They were moving too fast and her ribs hurt. Also her head. Her arm. Her legs, shit, everything hurt, okay? She had been shot, stabbed, clubbed, beaten, nearly electrocuted and hadn't eaten or slept (being knocked out didn't count) in what felt like days. She was overwhelmed and she didn't know how much longer she could carry on. She was basically running on hate and rage which, although pretty standard for her, was slowly but surely losing out to pain and tiredness.

"You okay?" Cara whispered.

"I'm fine." Santana spat, glaring at her and pushing off the wall, her arm wrapped protectively around her ribs.

"No you're not but it's not much further, I promise." She replied, reaching her hand out to her.

"I said, I'm fine." She replied harshly, slapping the redhead's hand away. "Get your damn hands off me."

Cara held up her arms in submission and started back up the corridor quickly. Santana scowled at her back and followed as best she could. God, this was ridiculous. She could barely walk, how the hell was she supposed to rescue Puck and take down Russell Fabray? She would be lucky to fight her way out of a wet paper bag the way she was feeling at the moment. Cara stopped at a door and pushed it open cautiously before sticking her head through it and switching on the light. She gestured back to Santana and disappeared inside.

"Take off your top." Cara said as she entered the room.

"Excuse me?" She narrowed her eyes and folded her arms, an action which caused her to wince and curse quietly.

"Oh, calm down, Lopez." Cara chuckled as she continued rummaging around the room. "I'm not trying to sneak a peek. Rachel would kick my ass."

"Alright, let's just clear something up here, shall we?" Santana said evenly, placing her hands gently on her hips as she tried to summon up her threatening stance. "We aren't friends, Cara. You have been lying to me for the whole time we have known each other. I have no idea who you are and I don't for one second believe your crock of shit story about how you came in there to 'protect' me, so drop the fucking act, okay? Don't talk to me like we're close, don't talk about my friends and don't ever, ever talk about Rachel, ever again, or I will fucking end you, entiendo?"

"Santana…"

"I may look like I'm having difficulty standing but if I die kicking your scrawny ass, I will die happy so shut. The fuck. Up."

Cara stared at her with a pained expression before squaring up and returning to her rummaging. "Fine. But I'm still going to need you to take your top off. You're no good to me like that. I'd be better off knocking you out and going by myself."

"Wouldn't put it past you." Santana muttered as she sat down and gingerly pulled her top over her head.

Cara said nothing as she marched over to the chair with an arm full of supplies. She gestured at Santana to lift her arms and began to wrap bandages around her bruised ribs. Santana winced as the bandages were pulled tighter, her face set into a scowl.

"I know you don't want to hear it but I really am sorry." Cara said quietly as she pulled the bandages tight enough to pin them. "I wish I could have told you."

"Shut. Up." She gritted out through the pain.

Cara nodded tightly and held out some pain killers as Santana slowly put her top back on.

"There's no water." Cara muttered as she headed back to the door. "You ready."

"Always." She shot back. "Let's go."

* * *

Santana pressed against the wall and held her breath. They had been sneaking about for what felt like hours and she was over it. There were voices coming from around the corner and they were getting closer. Her head was beginning to swim a little bit but her pain was definitely less. She could barely feel her hands and she was starting to feel oddly amused by their predicament. She glanced ahead to where Cara was trying to peer round the corner without being seen and felt an almost overwhelming urge to laugh. What the fuck was going on? Was this what it felt like to lose your mind?

"Probably." She chuckled.

Cara whipped round to face her, a look of rage and alarm on her face. The voices in the hallway stopped and Cara's whole body went rigid against the wall. Santana shrugged and laughed softly, causing Cara to head quickly towards her and pull her through the door closest to them, closing it quietly behind them. Santana started to get angry but then felt a heaviness set on her so she huffed out a breath and sat down on a chair.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Cara hissed at her.

Santana rolled her head back slowly and looked at her, her eyelids strangely heavy. She tried to raise her shoulders in a shrug and then thought back on the question. What was the question? Where the hell were they? She opened her mouth to ask but was stopped by a noise from the corridor as Cara moved quickly back from the door and into the darkest corner of the room. Santana followed her with her eyes but made no effort to move, it all seemed like a lot of work and she couldn't really remember what they were doing so she just sat there. Fuck, what was in those pills?

Suddenly the door swung open and a large shadow swept over her.

"You have got to be shitting me." A deep laugh swept across the room. "How the fuck did you get out?"

"Honestly?" Santana slurred. "I don't remember." She chuckled.

He laughed back and advanced on her. "Well lucky for me I found you. We have unfinished business, little girl."

Santana started to laugh uncontrollably and rocked forward in her chair. "Well, shit, Jabba, yes we do!" The memory shot to the forefront of her brain as she got to her feet. "I have to kill your fat ass."

"What's going on, Tony?" Came a voice from the door.

"Fuck off, Paul." Jabba said quietly, turning to his friend and pushing the door closed. "Come back in ten minutes, alright? I'll break her in for you."

The door clicked shut and silence descended on the darkened room. Santana lifted her heavy lids and waited for her eyes to adjust, an odd feeling of calm settling on her. It wasn't like she didn't know what this man intended to do, it was just that she was not concerned by it. She didn't know where it was coming from but she suddenly felt an overwhelming certainty that he would try, he would fail, and he would die screaming. She let out a tired sigh. The thought didn't give her any pleasure, she just didn't care. He was in her way and she didn't have the time or energy to care about the life of this would be rapist who had kicked her friend in the face. She just wished he would make his move quickly so she could get on with her day.

"Not so funny now, huh, bitch?" His voice came from the darkness, the rattle of his belt buckle echoing through the room.

"Oh, shit, you're still here?" She answered in a bored tone.

"Funny girl, you're going to be fun to break."

"Funny girl." Santana chuckled. She must remember to tell Rachel about that. She would love it. Well, maybe not so much in this context…

She heard him lurch towards her and spun out of the way, silently congratulating her body on following her instructions. He swore as he collided with the chair and swung out his meaty fist towards her. God, he stank. Even in the darkness he was easy to avoid, she just had to dance away from the smell. He swung again and she backed away just in time, but stumbled over something behind her and fell into the wall, bumping her head and causing the injury there to bring a fresh wave of nausea over her.

"Got you now, bitch." He laughed, grabbing her and yanking her up. The forward momentum rocked her head forward towards his and she opened her mouth, biting down hard in the flesh she came into contact with. He screamed out and pain and shoved her away with a curse. She fell against the wall again with a bang and felt a hand on her arm. She hit out in front of her, only to have her other hand caught and a cold, metallic object pressed into it. She heard him roar as he headed back towards her and she spun around, her hands out in front of her. The was a thud, her hand was wet, a dull ache reverberating up her arm at the impact and the man let out a surprised sigh, followed by a gurgle and another, altogether more frightening sound, a keening sound, and he dropped to his knees, taking Santana's hand with him.

She snatched her hand back, a sick, squelching noise accompanying it.

"Santana," A quiet voice came from behind her. "Santana we need to go. Now." A hand touched her arm gently and she whipped her head round, trying to make out the face in the darkness.

"Cara?"

"We need to go now." She said again, pulling Santana towards the door.

Santana turned to look behind her as Cara cracked the door open, the sliver of light illuminating the man on the floor. He had one hand on his throat, blood pooling around it, the other hand reaching out towards her. Her eyes travelled down his body til they reached his flaccid cock hanging out of his pants and her lip curled in disgust. She stepped back over to him and sank the knife into his fat gut, again and again, his pathetic, gurgling screams only adding fuel to her fire.

"Santana!" Cara hissed urgently, grabbing her and trying to pull her away.

"Get the fuck off me!" She wheeled around, jabbing the knife towards the redhead's face and slamming her other fist into the wall next to her head. Cara threw her arms up and backed up against the wall quickly. "Don't you fucking touch me."

"Alright, I'm sorry." She whispered. "You're right, but we need to go."

Santana glared at her former friend, her face a mask of rage, her mind overwhelmed with everything that had happened to her and she wanted nothing more than to bury the knife into her lying, scheming face. Something, somewhere in the back of her brain screamed at her to stop and slowly the fog lifted from her eyes and she found herself staring into the bright green, terrified eyes of the girl who had just saved her life. She dropped her hand and uncurled her fist, backing away slowly, allowing the girl to move.

Cara swallowed slowly and slid along the wall, never taking her eyes off of Santana. As she reached the door she turned her body and stuck her head out into the hallway quickly before stepping out of the room. Santana followed her out and noticed that she was practically running down the corridor to get away from her. She set off in pursuit but was stopped by a shout from behind her. She turned and saw a guard advancing towards her and pulling his gun. She could not move, could not think, just stood there frozen and waited for the shot to ring out. She felt a rush of heat by her ear and the advancing guard pirouetted and dropped to the ground. She span round and saw that Cara had stopped, gun raised as she scanned the corridor ahead and the one to her right.

"Come on!" She yelled, eyes pleading with Santana to move. As her legs kicked back into action her eyes widened in alarm as a figure appeared behind Cara, gun aimed at her head.

"No!" She screamed as the shot rang out, then raised her hand at the sudden pain in her arm. She looked down at it. She was bleeding. The bullet had grazed her arm. Her eyes shot back up to Cara who was clutching her ear but was otherwise unharmed. He had missed. How had he missed? She looked behind the redhead and her saw him on the floor, another figure standing over his body. Her head reeled in shock and disbelief as she recognised that figure.

"Blaine?"

"Santana!" A voice called from behind him, causing tears to spring to her eyes. She looked up the corridor in desperation, praying to everything she had ever heard of that she was not imagining that voice and dropping to her knees in gratitude when she saw Rachel sprinting down the corridor towards her.


	25. Chapter 25

Rachel squared her shoulders and nodded at Blaine to open the door. As he did so she took a deep breath and walked through it heading quickly and quietly to the end of the short corridor, pressing herself against the wall and bringing her gun up in front of her. Once the blood rushing in her ears reduced to a dull roar and she was sure there were no sounds of movement she chanced a quick look around the corner. The next corridor was dark but empty so she raised a hand behind her to beckon the others forward.

Blaine walked past her quickly and she watched him dart up to the next corner, pausing briefly as he got to a doorway on the right hand side before moving on when he was satisfied that it was clear. She turned back to see that Sam was behind her.

"Clear." She whispered to him. "Doorway on the right. Hopefully not occupied."

He nodded to her and turned the corner. She watched him as he walked up to the door and pressed his ear up to it for a moment before turning back and shaking his head at her. She nodded and he continued on to join Blaine at the end.

"Are we good?" She heard Mercedes whisper from behind her. As Blaine gestured back to her that it was safe to come forward she nodded back to the girl and waved her on, Ryder, Jake, Tina and Mike all following behind.

Mike carried on to the next junction and Rachel quickly joined him at his signal, followed by Tina and Jake. They all knew that this was the riskiest part of plan. The next corridor was by far the longest in the compound and the stairs leading down to the holding cells were right at the other end. There were several corridors branching off along the way and about twenty doorways that could potentially hold guards, and they didn't even know if Santana and Puck would be down there.

She indicated to Jake to go left and check out the turning at the end and when he gave the all clear she headed the opposite way towards their goal at the far end, stopping at the first door to listen for sounds within. Satisfied she glanced back up towards Jake to make sure they were still okay and carried on towards the next door, about twenty feet up on the opposite wall. Again she listened outside it until she was sure and then gestured back for Tina to join her. She aimed the gun into the room and held her breath as Tina slowly opened the door, keeping her aim steady as they carefully entered the darkened room and checked that it was empty. Once happy she backed out and nodded at Mike, checking nervously up and down the corridor until her friends were safely inside.

"Alright," Rachel started quietly. "Ryder, cover the corridor we just came from, if any of those guards are discovered or wake up I'm sure they'll just sound the alarm but I want to be sure. Jake, you keep the far end covered and the two of you look out for each other, any movement get back in this room and stay hidden, okay?" The pair nodded and headed quickly back out of the room to take up their positions.

Rachel looked up at her five old friends and continued. "We go on. Sam, take the next corridor, I'll follow and cover the doors. When it's clear Mike take the next one with Tina, then Blaine and Mercedes find a clear room in the next section. We cannot go too far without cover. If the alarm is raised, it's over, understood?"

They all nodded and Rachel followed Sam back out the door. As she listened at each room and again heard nothing she began to grow nervous, even as she gestured her friends on. It was too quiet. Where was everyone? Everything was going according to plan, and it was the middle of the night, but it still felt too easy. Could they really be that lucky?

As if on cue Mercedes began to gesture at her frantically from her position up ahead, Blaine facing away from them with his gun raised in preparation. Rachel grabbed Sam and gestured back to Jake and Ryder to get out of sight as she pushed forward to the room Mercedes had checked out just in time.

Throwing a look over her shoulder to make sure Jake and Ryder were safely in the first room, Rachel followed Sam through new door to join the others and Blaine gently closed it behind her just as they heard hurried footsteps approaching, then stop as a shot rang out very close to their position.

"Shit!" She heard Mercedes cry quietly and looked back to see Tina wrap an arm around her. Her friends looked as terrified as she felt and Rachel would have given anything to get them out of there. A shadow moved past the door and Rachel quickly moved forward to stop Blaine as he opened it a crack but suddenly he yanked it open wider and was through it before she could reach him.

Without thought she raised her gun and followed him out into the corridor, her mind racing to take in the scene as he swung the butt of his rifle into the head of a guard. She span back around as she sensed movement behind her, relieved and overwhelmed when she saw Tina, Mercedes and Sam covering the corridor behind her and Mike falling into position behind Blaine. She turned back to him as the guard fell to the floor and that was when she saw the redheaded girl dropping to her knees just beyond the next corridor. Cara. What was she doing here?

"Blaine?"

Rachel's eyes looked up towards the sound of the voice, desperately hoping she hadn't imagined it, her heart soaring as the locked onto the source of it.

"Santana!" She yelled, setting off into a sprint towards her, her whole body buzzing with relief and panic as she took in her bruised face, her blood stained clothes and the way she dropped to her knees as she saw her.

"Rachel, wait!" She heard as a shot rang out somewhere on her right. She felt a sharp pain in her back and skidded slightly off course, losing her balance and falling just in front of her girlfriend. She shook it off quickly and crawled the last few metres, throwing her arms around Santana and kissing her head, her face, her lips, caring about nothing else in the world at that moment except for the fact that she was alive and here and hugging and kissing her back. The moment didn't last long though, as suddenly Santana was pulling at her, dragging her from their position on the ground to a standing one and pushing her against the wall. Rachel looked at her in confusion until she registered the sound of gunshots and alarms filling the space.

Cara was a few feet in front of them, firing blindly down the turning Rachel had just run past. Blaine was on the other side doing the same with Mike facing towards her yelling something she couldn't hear and pointing down the corridor. Slowly the fog in her mind lifted and she turned around, just in time to see four guards turn the corner at the end of the hall and begin running towards them, weapons raised. She fired at them whilst moving in front of Santana, who she realised was unarmed, and began to move them both quickly back towards Cara. One of the guards dropped, quickly followed by another as her friends began firing at them, and the two remaining guards dropped back behind the cover of the wall.

"Move! Now!" She heard Mike call out as Santana grabbed her arm and pulled her quickly down the hall, Blaine and Cara laying down cover fire as they crossed the opening. Mercedes was gesturing wildly from the next turning, gun pointed back the way they had come and she was relieved to see Jake and Ryder sprinting towards them as Tina covered their approach. They covered the distance to the door at the end quickly, Sam already there and giving the all clear, and burst through the door out into the night.

"This way." Cara pointed and took off across the space, keeping as low as possible as she followed the path to the left. She raised her gun and fired a shot in front of her, kicking the now unlocked gate open as she reached it and turning back to cover the others as she gestured them through. Once on the other side Rachel and Santana dropped down behind the wall and scanned the area for signs of life.

"You're bleeding!" Santana said in alarm. Rachel turned to see who she was talking to and realised with some surprise that it was her. "Jesus, Rachel, you're shot!" Rachel looked at her in confusion as she ripped the bottom half off her shirt and began to wrap it around her shoulder.

"I'm shot?" She asked dumbly.

"Yes! Lift your arm." Santana replied quickly, worry filling her eyes. Rachel did so and winced as a sudden pain shot through her shoulder. When the hell did I get shot? She wondered as her girlfriend carefully wrapped the fabric under her armpit and over her shoulder, pulling it tight once she had wrapped it a few times and knotting it as best she could. "It's not too bad, it looks like it just caught you." She said, kissing her gently. "Be careful."

"We have to keep moving." Cara whispered urgently once all of them were through the gate and she had pushed it closed behind them. "It won't take them long to figure out where we've gone."

"And where is that exactly?" Rachel asked, remembering Sebastian's story. The fact that Cara seemed to know her way about Sue's compound so well was doing nothing to convince her that it had been a lie. But the girl had just saved their lives, again, and it appeared that she had rescued Santana. She wondered suddenly if Santana knew and one look at her face told her everything she needed to know. She took hold of her girlfriend's hand and pointed the gun at Cara, registering the shocked reactions of her friends but pushing them aside for now. Explanations would have to wait. "Where are we going, Cara?" She spat out the girl's name with extra emphasis and took note of the quickly covered look of recognition.

"To Puck." Cara said through gritted teeth, locking eyes with her and squaring her shoulders. "We're going to find Puck."

"And how is that you know where to find him?" She asked, cocking her head slightly.

"Look, I know you think you know the answer to that question, Rachel, but you don't understand…"

"So explain it to me then."

"We don't have time for this!" Cara hissed, glancing quickly behind her. "Jesus Christ, please just trust me!"

"I'm running a little low on trust right now, Cara." She spat back, emphasising the girl's name once more.

"What the fuck is going on?" Sam whispered at her anxiously.

"Look, I'll explain later but if we don't move now we're all dead." Cara moved towards Santana and handed over her gun. "Please, Santana, we need to get to Puck."

Santana took the gun from her and nodded tightly at Rachel. Cara let out a relieved sigh as Rachel lowered her weapon and she moved off along the wall, keeping to the shadows and staying low.

"Are you sure about this?" Rachel whispered. "You know who she is?"

Santana looked at her and shrugged slightly. "I know who she's not." She whispered back. "But I don't think she's lying about Puck."

"Okay." She nodded before turning to the others. "Let's go."

They followed Cara's route quietly and turned the corner of the building to see her crouched at the top of some steps. As they reached her she pointed to her left and whispered to them.

"That is an access gate. The code is 151209. If any of you guys want out now is the time, it only gets worse from here."

Rachel looked around at her friends and watched as they all stayed silent. She turned back to Cara and nodded, then followed her down the stairs and watched as she entered a code on the keypad, the lock clicking open as she did. They followed her inside and headed down a darkened corridor until she pushed open a door and waved them all through it. Rachel shot her a questioning glare as she realised they had walked into some sort of kitchen area but Cara ignored her and turned to Santana instead.

"We need to tell them the truth before we go any further, Santana."

Rachel's heart clenched uncomfortably in her chest at the statement and she turned to face her girlfriend. Santana's eyes widened at the look on her face and she stepped quickly towards her, taking her hands and shaking her head.

"Don't think that." She said quietly. "Please, baby, don't ever think that."

Her chest eased a little but she knew something bad was coming. She nodded gently and squeezed her hands. "Tell us what's going on."

"After Puck and I were taken we got locked up." Santana started. She turned to face the group but kept hold of Rachel's hand. "We were left there for a while then the guards came for us. Seperately. I was taken to Sue but Puck…" She squeezed Rachel's hand tighter and finished with a shaky voice. "They took Puck to Russell Fabray. He's been behind this whole thing."

"Who the fuck is Russell Fabray?" Jake asked angrily.

"Quinn's father." Mercedes answered quietly, looking up at Santana with a sadness Rachel could not remember seeing before. She ran her hand up Santana's arm gently as she tried to process this new information, her head spinning in confusion. All this time they had been focussed on finding Sue, and suddenly she was not a threat? Were they just supposed to forget about her? It didn't make any sense. And if Quinn's father had been behind the whole thing then why had he kidnapped Beth? Surely he wouldn't have put his own daughter through that, unless Quinn had been involved somehow. She had not been close to Quinn in high school, Santana and Brittany had been, obviously, but so had Mercedes for a time. A very important time. Rachel knew very little about Russell Fabray except for the fact that he had thrown Quinn out when he found out she was pregnant, and that he had left his wife shortly after. But the way Santana and Mercedes were looking at each other led her to believe that there was much more to the tale and that didn't bode well for them.

"He was Sue's backer in the campaign." Santana continued. "Once she got elected he was behind her, pulling all the strings. He took Becky Jackson and used her to control Sue, he took Beth and used her to control Quinn, he put a mole in our house and she found out that Sue also had someone in there." She snapped her eyes up at Cara. "Russell told Quinn to flush out Sue's mole and kill her. Fortunately for our friend here we killed the wrong spy."

All eyes in the room turned to Cara, whose face coloured as she shifted her feet uncomfortably.

"Wait a minute," Tina said. "You? And Sue? You've been lying to us this whole time?"

"Yes." Cara said quietly. "But not like you think."

"Well what else are we supposed to think?" Tina yelled, taking a step towards her before Mike held her back. "I trusted you! We all trusted you!"

"Tina…" Mike said gently.

"No, Mike!" She snapped at him. "How can you be so calm? She's been spying on us this whole time!"

"I haven't…"

"Don't even fucking start, you two faced…"

"Tina!" Santana said firmly, shocking them all. "Believe me, I know how you feel. I was ready to murder this bitch two hours ago, but a lot can change in two hours." She laughed sadly and shook her head. "I certainly don't trust her like I used to, and I doubt I ever will again, but I believe what she is telling us and I believe that Russell Fabray is the threat here, not Sue."

"I agree with Santana." Mercedes said quietly. "You didn't know the man, T. He's a monster."

"So if Sue wasn't involved, why did she have a spy in the Cheerios house?" Ryder asked.

"To protect them." Cara said quietly, earning a snort of derision from Tina.

"Look, at this point I really don't care about what she's done, all I know is she is the best shot, right now, to save my brother's life so can we please just get moving?" Jake asked angrily.

"Jake's right." Santana nodded. "We need to go. You have a plan?"

"Um…" Cara looked up at her with a slightly panicked expression. "No. Not really. No."

"Good to know some things don't change." Santana shook her head sadly. "Let's go."


	26. Chapter 26

As she walked down the darkened corridors that she had once known so well Cara tried desperately to focus on the situation they were about to face but her mind was racing. Everything she had been working towards, all she had done for the last four years was lost. She had thought she had finally found her place in life, her role in this world and despite everything that had happened since those last few weeks in Lima she had been hopeful that that would continue.

Now, thanks to that asshole Sebastian telling Rachel about her before she had a chance to talk to Santana properly, that security was lost. She would give anything to be able to talk to her friend, to make her see that although their relationship was initially built on a lie everything she had done since had been true. But if she knew anything about Santana Lopez it was that her trust was difficult to earn and almost impossible to regain.

They were approaching the conference room. She held up her hand to halt the group following her and travelled the final few feet to the corner alone. Pressing her back to the wall she inched towards the edge as slowly and quietly as she could and glanced around it. One guard stood outside the conference room door, his rifle resting in the crook of his arm as he inspected his nails and chewed on his gum like he didn't have a care in the world. She pulled back and leaned her head against the wall. Not a good sign. They knew they were there. They must know where they were headed. Why weren't there more guards?

Cara chanced another look around the corner, trying to make out any other signs of life. There were none but something didn't feel right. She moved slowly back down towards the group, her sense of alarm growing when she took in Santana's battered body, the sweat dripping down her face and the rolling movement of her eyes.

"Are you alright?" She whispered, her eyes narrowing in concern.

"Fine." Santana whispered back, her eyes snapping into focus. "What's going on?"

"One guard on the door." Cara replied. "I don't like it. They must know we're here."

There was movement behind Santana and suddenly the guy with the shaved head walked quickly past them up the corridor. Cara reached out to grab him but was too late and he sauntered round the corner, his rifle slung casually over his back.

"Hey." She heard him say as she looked at Santana in alarm. "I'm here to relieve you."

"Why?" Came the reply as Santana and Rachel had one of their non-verbal exchanges. "My shift doesn't end for another hour."

"Hey, man, I just do what they tell me."

"Oh yeah?" Cara could practically hear the guard squaring up. "Who's they? Cause I gotta tell you, man, I don't recognise…"

They heard the distinctive sound of damage being done to flesh and a body dropping to the floor and then their guy was back, jerking his head to signal the all clear. Cara turned back to Santana who just shook her head and sighed as she moved forward and beckoned to the others to follow. Cara fell into step beside Rachel and chanced a look at her. She was focussed intently on her girlfriend and seemed to be having the same concerns about her that Cara was. Santana was in no shape for this fight. She would give anything to be able to convince Rachel that she had the girl's back, that she wouldn't let anything happen to her, that she would die for her if it came to it, but there was no time. She would just have to prove it.

She snapped her eyes to the front and focussed on the door they had stopped in front of.

"Alright," Santana started quietly. "This is it. Jake, Ryder, cover the corridor to the right. We don't want anyone coming in after us. Tina, Mike, cover the corridor we just came from. Sam, Mercedes, keep your gun trained on Cara and if she tries to get in there or raise the alarm in any way, shoot her."

"What?" She hissed as the blonde guy grabbed her and shoved her against the wall. "Santana…!"

"Rachel, Blaine, let's end this." Santana turned to face the door and squared her shoulders, the shaved guy, Blaine presumably, taking position to her right with a hand on the doorknob. Rachel moved to her left but looked back at Cara with a conflicted expression.

"Santana, please!" Cara cried a little louder. "I can help you! Rachel, please…"

Suddenly her friend span round and cracked her in the jaw with the butt of her gun and kneed her in the crotch. As she dropped to her knees Santana grabbed throat and hissed in her face. "What did I tell you I would do if you ever spoke about Rachel again?"

"Santana…" She heard Rachel say gently. She opened her eyes to see Rachel's hand on Santana's shoulder, gently pulling her away.

"If she speaks again, kill her." She heard her friend say before she shoved her head hard into the wall and let go.

Her ears rang and the edges of her vision started to bleed black. A wave of nausea washed over her but she tried to stand. They couldn't go in there without her. It was a trap, couldn't they see that? She had to help!

"Stay down." A soft voice said to her and a gentle but firm hand pushed her into a sitting position.

She tried to speak but all that came out was a moan and all she could do was watch and let the fear wash over her as Blaine pushed the door open and the three of them walked through it.

Cara shook her head and tried to breath, her eyes wide as she tried desperately to clear her vision and focus her mind. The doors in front of her swung shut and they were gone. She looked down at the floor and saw the fallen guard, his neck at a strange angle and his eyes glassy. She looked to her left and saw two scared looking boys aiming guns with shaking hands down a darkened corridor, eyes twitching between each other and her and their friends at the other corner. She looked up at the blonde guy standing guard over her, his gun aimed at her head and his ridiculous mouth set into a sharp line. To her right, a soft hand on her shoulder, Mercedes looked down at her with sad eyes and shook her head gently. At the other end of the corridor Mike held his corner with a determined stance, as if he was born to do it. Tina returned her gaze and covered her boyfriend, but her eyes showed the conflict within her. As she regained her senses Cara pleaded with her eyes for Tina to take her side, to help her get into the room and back Santana and Rachel up, but the girl looked away and didn't speak.

And so here she was. She had lost the trust of the person she cared about most in all the world. Sure, she had come into her life by deception but in the time they had known each other she had come to love Santana like a sister. She had seen through that bitchy, hard exterior and gotten to know a woman who was fiercely loyal, frighteningly intelligent and so surprisingly soft and gentle when she wanted that it made your head spin. She had started off as Sue Sylvester's spy and it was true that the woman had saved her life, but Santana Lopez had given her something to live for. If she had been asked to choose between the two of them there would have been no contest. And now all she could do was sit here and wait as the person she had sworn she would always protect walked straight into a trap and there was nothing she could do about it.

As if on cue a shot rang out and she heard Rachel's voice let out a single shout. Sam's eyes snapped towards the door and she used the distraction to snap his wrist up and take his gun. She shrugged Mercedes hand off her shoulder and lurched towards the door, ignoring Sam's cry of pain as he cradled his arm.

"Cara, stop!" She heard Mercedes yell from behind her but there was no way she was stopping. She crashed through the door, her movements still a little woozy, rolled down the flight of stairs she had forgotten were there and landed in a heap at the bottom.

She lay there for a moment, winded and trying to make sense of the scene, before a hand grabbed her and pulled her out of the way just as a shot rang out and a bullet entered the floor where her head had just been. A pair of extremely annoyed and icy blue eyes glared at her before Sue Sylvester put a finger to her lips and returned to her position. Cara bit back on a wave of nausea and clutched at her ribs, shaking her head to clear it before drawing in a shaky breath and raising her gun. They were crouched behind the low wall which divided the seating area of the conference room from the presentation area. Her entrance had not been exactly subtle and she knew that whoever had been shooting would know exactly where she was. The question was who had been shooting and which side had her rescue put her on? Sue had begun moving further down the line to the next aisle, her own weapon raised in front of her. Cara could see no other movement in that direction so she shakily moved back the way she had come and hesitantly chanced a look out into the space.

On the small stage at the front of the room stood Russell Fabray, a demented grin on his face as he held a knife to Santana's throat. One of his guards had Rachel pressed face down onto the podium as two others were making their way round the aisles in search of, she supposed, herself, Sue and Blaine.

And behind Russell, strung up by his arms, naked, castrated and disembowelled, was Puck.


	27. Chapter 27

"Santana…" Rachel put her hand on her girlfriend's shoulder and gently pulled her away.

She could feel the rage surging through her but it didn't stop the shock she felt when Santana cracked her former friend's skull off the wall. She could feel the force of it reverberating up her arm and into her own hand and pulled away quickly.

"If she speaks again, kill her." Rachel heard her say but she barely recognised her voice. She had never heard her sound so…

Santana span on her heel and marched back over to the door leaving Rachel with no choice but to follow her. She spared once last glance at the redhead on the floor before exchanging a concerned look with Mercedes and taking her position behind her girlfriend. Blaine pushed the door open and in they went, the doors swinging shut behind them.

The room was in total darkness and for a few moments they stayed where they were, shallow breaths reverberating through the black. Rachel felt a wave of fear wash over her as she prayed for her eyes to adjust. There was a bad feeling in this space, like something awful had happened, or was about to happen, and all she wanted to do was grab Santana and run away, far away, where no one would find them and they could just live and be happy. The feeling was so intense that she had to take a breath to calm her nerves and try and force it down. She sensed movement in front of her and felt Santana's hand brush against hers before grabbing hold of it properly and squeezing gently.

Suddenly a dull spotlight flicked on and illuminated the stage.

"Puck," Santana breathed, letting go of her hand and starting slowly towards him.

"Santana, wait!" Rachel hissed, reaching out to stop her. This was so obviously a trap, they couldn't just walk into it. Puck was centre stage at the front to the room, arms tied by a rope to the lighting rig above him. His head hung down and though the light was only on his head it was obvious he had been stripped.

Santana moved back towards her and cupped her face, kissing her gently. "We have to finish this, Rachel." She smiled, her eyes shrouded in sadness. "Whatever happens next, we have to finish it." She kissed her again and pushed her hair carefully behind her ear, sweeping her thumb down her jawline softly on her return. "I love you."

And then she moved quickly down the stairs towards the stage, Blaine following with his gun raised as he searched the darkness for signs of life. Rachel quickly pulled herself together and followed suit, her heart racing with fear and adrenaline. Santana reached the stage and tucked her gun into her belt, pulling out the knife in it's place, before speaking gently to Puck and placing her hand on his side. Her stomach roiled as he lifted his head slowly to reveal his broken and bloody face.

"Santana," he slurred, the corner of his mouth attempting to raise in a smile. "'Bout time. You bring my beer?"

"Sorry, Puck, got a little tied up." Santana replied quietly, tears evident in her voice. "I'll buy you one when we get out of here, okay?"

As she moved to the side to cut through his restraints Rachel clapped her hand over her mouth and choked back the cry of anguish that was threatening to spill out. She was close enough now to see that Puck was indeed naked and the dark pool gathered beneath him was blood running freely down his legs from the gaping void at the top of them. She turned away quickly as a wave of bile started up her throat and her eyes widened in alarm as a fist shot out of the darkness and connected with her face.

"Rachel!" She heard Santana cry out as she dropped to her knees, her hands flying to her face as her gun clattered to the ground. A single shot was fired and something heavy fell into her, knocking her sideways and smacking her own hands into her already broken nose making her almost pass out.

"Any more of that and I will slit her throat!" A voice boomed from the stage. Rachel was yanked to her feet and dragged forwards before a large hand slammed the side of her face into a podium, making her stomach clench and her head spin. She forced herself to open her eyes and saw Russell Fabray holding Santana in front of him like a shield with a knife to her throat. He yanked down hard on her ponytail and twisted his face into a smile as he talked. "Your little friend isn't having a great night. Let's finish it for him, shall we?"

Rachel struggled to take in what was going on. It seemed as though Santana was pushed into Puck and then yanked back and there was an awful, wet splash and…

"No!" She yelled, desperately trying to push herself up and get free. She had to help him. She had to stop what was pouring out of him. This couldn't be real. This was impossible.

There was a loud crash from the back of the room and light spilled down the stairs. She twisted and turned to try and see what was going on, to escape, to do something, anything, but the hand held her down. There was a dull thud followed by a huff of pain and another guard stepped out from behind Puck, his gun pointed at the ground. He fired but then immediately took a step back, as though unsure of what to do. None of this was making sense, Rachel felt like her head was in a bubble that was floating away from her body and all she could do was watch.

"Please," She murmured.

"Find her." Fabray barked out, pulling Santana in front of himself again and smirking over her shoulder at Rachel. Santana's eyes were closed and her hands loose at her sides. She looked like she was sleeping. Her face was a mess of cuts and bruises, her white shirt was stained and torn, there wasn't a single part of her that Rachel could see that wasn't injured in some way, and yet she was the most perfect, beautiful thing that Rachel had ever laid eyes on. Bent over a podium, her head jammed against the hard, wooden surface, her nose painfully broken and blood running down her face and down her throat, choking her and making her gag, she looked at her girlfriend and felt herself relax. The monster leering at her from the shadows didn't scare her, just made her see that they were right. Whatever happened to them now they were right to come here. They were right to try and stop him.

"We have to finish this." She murmured.

"Come out, come out wherever you are!" The monster singsonged, dragging the blade back and forth across Santana's throat. "Tell you what, I'll give you till the count of three to show yourselves before I start carving bits off my beloved daughter's dyke friend here. Sound good?"

Rachel kept her eyes on her girlfriend's face, her breathing slow and even. Santana's eyes stayed closed, her face expressionless, the only sign she was alive the gentle ticking of a pulse in her throat. She felt a calmness spread through her body and her hands loosened their grip on the podium.

"Well, I think it's obvious which bits I should start with, huh slut?" The monster spat in her ear. "One!" He called out across the room, lowering the knife and dragging it under her left breast before angling the tip up to press into it. "I knew from the second she brought you home what a cheap, tacky little tramp you were. I could see it in the way you looked at me, flaunted yourself in front of me. Two!"

Santana's eyes opened slowly, locking onto Rachel's with a look she knew all too well. Rachel let her body go limp, her breathing slow.

"Those skimpy outfits the two of you used to wear, as if I would ever degrade myself to touch the likes of you."

"No," Santana said calmly. "You just fucked your daughter instead."

As if they were connected Rachel and Santana moved at the same time, Santana's fist swinging to connect with Fabray's face and Rachel's body dropping and spinning, using her guard's own weight to flip him over her shoulder, just like Santana had taught her. She turned his gun towards his face just as it went off and whipped her head away as the spray hit her. The quiet of the room was shattered with gunfire and she blindly reached to pull the weapon from the dead man's hand and rolled over, springing up into a stance and training the gun on Fabray as he sank the knife into her girlfriend's stomach. She pulled the trigger with a roar as the blade slid home for a second time and watched in horror as the two of them fell to their knees.

Time slowed to a crawl as she moved across the stage. The air was thick and her legs got caught up in it. She watched as Santana's hands stayed suspended in mid air, waiting for her stomach to move into them, catching the blood as if to push it back in. As she closed the gap her legs gave out and she slid the final few feet on her knees, the gun dropped and forgotten as her arms wrapped around Santana's body.

"No, no, no, no, no!" She cried as she caught her, cradling her in her arms as she looked down at her. "Santana? Look at me, baby, please."

She pressed one hand over her girlfriend's, putting pressure on the wounds as she stroked her other hand gently across her face, pushing damp strands of hair off it as Santana did as she asked, the look of shock slowly giving way to recognition.

"Rachel," She said, her teeth gritted in pain. "Is he dead?"

She turned to look at the man lying next to her, so small and pathetic now. She knew the answer already. The hours of target practice Santana had made her do had paid off. A precise shot to the head, moments too late.

"He's dead. Don't worry about him." Rachel soothed, dropping a kiss to her forehead. "Just hold on, I'm going to get you out of here." She looked blindly around the room, the gunfire having stopped at some point but sounds of a fight still drifting in from the corridor. She saw Blaine run up the stairs towards the door, yank it open and pull quickly back inside as a bullet split the wood. A blonde head bobbed up the stairs behind him firing cover shots as he darted out into the corridor and holding the position after he left.

"Rachel," She snapped her eyes back to see Santana smiling up at her gently, her eyelids drooping heavily. "We did it, Rachel."

"Yes we did." She smiled back. "Now we can go home."

"Home." Santana repeated, the ghost of a smile playing on her lips as her eyes closed. She lifted a hand and squeezed Rachel's gently before letting out a small sigh.

"Santana?" Rachel dropped her other hand quickly to push down on the wounds, alarm spreading through her at reduced speed of the blood. "Open your eyes, baby, stay with me."

She sensed movement beside her and snapped her head up, relief washing over her as she saw Cara pulling off her shirt and wadding it up.

"Keep her talking, I'll go get help." The girl said, pulling her hands away to press the fabric roughly against Santana's stomach causing her to scrunch up her face in pain. "You hear that, bitch? That's right, I'm talking to your girl. Look at me." She slapped her face gently and smiled slightly as her eyes opened lazily. "What you gonna do, huh?"

"Fuck you, Harris." Santana slurred, swatting at her hand.

"You wish, Lopez." She smirked, grabbing Rachel's hands and pressing them down over her shirt. "I'll be right back."

"Rachel." Santana looked up at her in confusion. "She hit me?"

"She did." Rachel nodded down at her gravely. "You cannot let that stand."

"That bitch slapped me." She shifted uncomfortably in Rachel's arms and looked away sadly. "But I think I deserved it."

"Hey, no you didn't!" Rachel replied softly, trying to move her into a more comfortable position. "Why would you say that?"

"I told them to kill her." She muttered, her hand moving slowly to cover Rachel's. "I'm sorry I'm such a bitch."

"Stop that! You are not a bitch."

"Of course I am." Santana snorted, pushing herself into a coughing fit. As it subsided she lay back down and smiled up at her. "But you love it."

"I do." Rachel said sadly, wiping the blood away from her girlfriend's mouth as her eyes started to close again. "I love you."

"I know." She squeezed her hand again gently and closed her eyes.


	28. Chapter 28

Epilogue

Rachel stared out across the water. She pulled her coat tighter around her and inhaled the sea air. She was still getting used to the calm here, of having nothing more to worry about than the crash of the waves on the sandy shore. She was finally free. Almost. If she could only forget.

They had been back about three months. After she had shot Russell Fabray Blaine, Cara and, although Rachel could still not believe it, Sue Sylvester had taken care of the remaining guards in the room before joining the rest of the group to fight back the guards who had swarmed the hallway. She had stayed on the stage cradling Santana, trying anything and everything she could think of to keep her talking, keep her conscious, keep her alive until Cara could get help.

Finally the girl returned with the base's doctor and they rushed her away to try and save her. Rachel fought to be allowed to stay with her but she was taken to a seperate room to have her own wounds tended to and given a sedative when she fought to get free. She was out for about two hours and awoke with a heavy sense of dread wrapped around her heart, her mind filled with horrific images of broken bodies, leering faces, stomach churning sounds. She leapt out of the bed and ripped the door open, screaming in the corridor for Santana, charging into every room she could find and ripping open the stitches she didn't know she had. Eventually Cara found her and managed to make her calm down long enough to be told that Santana was still in surgery, that it was complicated and would take time.

Her friends found her then, mercifully they had all made it although Mike had been shot in the arm. He joked about how at least it wasn't his leg so fingers crossed for his dance career back in Mexico. They all sat together and waited for news, Ryder keeping Jake company slightly apart from the rest as he tried to bury his grief in a bottle of bourbon that Cara had produced from somewhere. Into their midst walked Sue Sylvester, the same superior look on her face that Rachel remembered so well from high school. She wanted nothing more than to leap up from her chair and slap it off of her, but by her side walked five year old, blonde haired, blue eyed Beth Corcoran. Silently Sue handed her over to Rachel and walked from the room, sadness in her eyes and a slight hunch to her shoulders.

Rachel sighed softly and bent down to pick up a small stone from the beach, a ridge running up it's middle, then a few paces further stopped to collect another, this one shaped like an egg. She sat down, hugged her knees to her chest and allowed the ocean to wash some of her grief away.

She and Mercedes had taken Beth back to Shelby, wished her well and said their goodbyes. A few days later they had driven back to Lima and parked up alongside the football field. Blaine, Sam, Jake and Ryder had carried Puck's body over to the fallen goalposts and laid him to rest beside Finn and Kurt.

The tears welled up in her eyes as she thought back. Six years ago she had looked at that field for the first time, full of hopes and dreams for the future, about to meet the group who would become her best friends, the boy she would obsess over and get engaged to, and the girl who would take his place as the love of her life. She should have been on Broadway now, working her way to a Tony, living in some cute loft somewhere with Santana, maybe Kurt, calling her fathers on the weekends to tell them about her week, hear about theirs. Instead her fathers were dead, murdered by Russell Fabray when they dared to try and oppose his move to take over the hospital board and throw its support behind the Sylvester campaign. Her best friend was dead, murdered by Quinn Fabray as he tried to protect her. Her first love was dead, also shot by Quinn Fabray as she finally slipped over the edge. And Santana…

Arms wrapped around her from behind and legs slid either side of her. She sighed as Santana pressed a kiss into her neck and rested her chin on her shoulder.

"You okay, baby?" Santana asked softly.

Rachel nodded and turned her face to kiss her. She ran her hand over Santana's jaw, her thumb gently tracing the scar by her eyebrow. She deepened the kiss and rested her head against Santana's when it ended.

"I love you." She whispered.

"I know." Rachel smiled.

Santana closed her eyes and nodded, their heads still pressed together. They sat like that for a while, watching the sea, wrapped in their memories.

The drive back to Mexico had been long and worrying, thanks to Santana's delicate state, but she had wanted to get back to her father as soon as possible. When they had loaded their belongings up Cara had helped, and loaded her own along with them. Rachel noticed but said nothing and Santana was too dosed up on painkillers to notice much of anything. If the two former friends had talked about what had happened at all in the months since they had not shared it with her, but an uneasy truce seemed to have been reached and Rachel just hoped that time would help to make it right.

Santana's father greeted them with so much relief that Rachel truly believed he lost ten years worth of age from his face, and once he had made sure his daughter had been patched up correctly he told them excitedly of the developments back home. Sue Sylvester had renounced her position with immediate effect and was giving evidence at a hearing to determine the extent of Russell Fabray's empire. She was looking at spending the rest of her life in prison and was putting up no fight in her defence, although Rachel was sure she would pull something out at the last minute. Changes were happening all over the country, small ones certainly, but definitely a move in the right direction. Just too late for their friends.

Rachel rubbed Santana's hand then opened it and placed the ridged stone into her palm before standing up and extending her other hand to pull her girlfriend up gently. She frowned as Santana winced and held a hand gently to her stomach, but she held her tongue. She knew Santana hated it when she fussed so she just took her hand and led her to the shore. She kissed her egg shaped pebble gently and threw it out to sea, then turned to Santana and pressed a kiss to her ridged one. Santana smiled down at her sadly and kissed her hand before stepping away, bringing the rock up to her lips and flinging it out into the deep.

After a few moments Rachel stepped up behind her and wrapped her arms carefully around her waist. She kissed her shoulder and rested her chin on it, letting the sea breeze push the hair of their faces.

"So what do you want to do?"

Santana smirked. "You."

Rachel smiled and pressed a kiss into her cheek. "I don't think you're quite up to that yet."

"That sounds like a challenge to me."

Rachel laughed gently and kissed her again.

"It's really over, isn't it?" Santana asked quietly.

"Yes, baby." She smiled. "It's really over."

Santana let out a sigh and relaxed into Rachel's body. She smiled and closed her eyes, Rachel's fingers tracing soft patterns against her skin.


End file.
